


Korrasami Month 2017

by MadameEngineer



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cutesy, F/F, Festival, Fluff, Korrasami Month, Korrasami Month 2017, Modern Era, Post-Canon, Superheroes, Water tribe, accident au, noir, prompts, superhero au, wheelchair au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-01-29 10:51:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12629394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameEngineer/pseuds/MadameEngineer
Summary: A collection of prompts for Korrasami Month 2017! Fluff and adorableness await!





	1. Masquerade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After things have settled down a little in Republic city, Asami tries to get assistance with reconstruction efforts at a party of elites. After striking out, she gets a little help from Korra, who finds she enjoys the party.

The lights of the hall dazzled, cascading down and reflecting in Asami’s eyes, giving them an orange shine behind the shade of her mask. She wasn’t the biggest fan of these sorts of themed festivals, at least not ones like this. Something about masks added a layer of deceit to the air, it was a feeling she couldn’t shake. It all just came across as the front for some shady backroom deals going on amidst the noise and distraction. Which was fitting, cause a deal is exactly why she’d come, though she hoped it wouldn’t need to be too shady.

She stood in a ring of people around the hall, looking in at those partaking in a practiced and extravagant dance. She’d been propositioned more than once this evening, all of which she’d politely declined. A few had even tried more than once. She would be quite a catch, CEO of future industries and all. At least a quarter of the other party goers here were from various tech corporations. Trying to warm up to each other, and to the politicians who made up another third of the people in attendance. The room was filled with republic city elite. Of course this was a “benefit” or a “charity” as many would take great pains to point out. And to their credit, that wasn’t entirely untrue. A sizable donation had been made to the city’s infrastructure, including areas damaged or made less livable by recent events. It was almost a formality, a matter of etiquette. “We can’t just give money.” One manufacturer she’d overheard had said. They had to make a to do about it, let people know how charitable they were.

Asami turned down another dance as her eyes scanned the crowd. Finding what she was looking for was proving difficult, as it was a challenge to recognize any faces behind the various masquerade masks. Her own was not covering most of her face, just a simple thing to shroud the eyes. The hair and dress were a dead giveaway to who she was well enough. And she knew most of the people in the room even if she couldn’t recognize them right away. Some were people she’d worked with, some she’d had meetings with to discuss various designs and support. And many, many more were people she knew as a child from her father’s meetings and business. She’d seen much of the inner workings of what was now her company before she ever came to be the owner. Many had already approached her to offer condolences for her father. Each interaction a painful reminder. But the person she was looking for, had yet to speak to her tonight. 

And finally, she saw him. Huan, an earth kingdom engineer, though that middle bit was a little more complicated these days. He was on the other side of the room, in conversation with some representative or another. She’d messaged him indirectly through telegrams and the like, and found her offers politely declined. Tonight, she thought she’d take the opportunity to converse him in person. Negotiations had gone well in the past, though for once she actually wouldn’t have minded bombastic Varrick running back up on a business venture like this. Say what you want but he was nothing if not a wheeler and dealer. Over time though, she’d become a pretty good negotiator herself. 

She made her way through the crowd, side stepping the dancers, until she was behind him. She didn’t have to announce herself, he took notice of her almost at once. Her turned, stopping his previous conversation dead in its tracks as he offered a cordial bow. “Why miss sato.” He spoke, voice cool and collected. He came across as a man used to these sort of lavish social occasions. 

Asami returned a polite curtsy and smiled. “Director Huan, it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” He winked. The man he had been speaking with slowly drifted away, realizing that his time with the engineer was over in favor of better prospects with her. “You look quite splendid. Are you enjoying your evening?”

“It’s quite the event.” She said, gesturing at the crowd. Some might find it overwhelming, but not her. He was powerful in their “circle” But then so was she. “So many bright minds together. And there’s a lot to talk about this days.”

“There certainly is. Why I was just speaking with the minister of… oh something or other.” He said hand waving it away. “He was just telling me about Republic city history. It’s a fascinating thing.” He seemed to muse. “Representatives from all nations.”

“A lot can happen when we work together.” She said.

“Indeed.” He smiled. “Before the party I took a quit look at the city. Reconstruction seems to be going well.” He offered.

Not well enough she thought, and nowhere near fast enough. “I recently visited Ba Sing Se. It seemed like there was a lot of progress there too.” The city, along with much of the earth kingdom was under reconstruction as well. Ba Sing Se wasn’t entirely back on its feet after the assassination of the earth queen, and that was before the Empire business. They were hurting too she knew. Any recourses had been spent on building up the Empire’s army and weapons, as a result, they were struggling just as much. But he’d opened her up for it, so she dove in. “Actually, I hoped we could talk about reconstruction.”

“Ah yes. I received your telegrams. Well I’m afraid to say that my own situation hasn’t changed. I’m afraid I won’t be able to offer much.” He said. 

“Of course.” She conceded. “It’s a difficult time for everyone.” She gestured towards the lights of the city from the window of the building the party took place in. “We still have overcrowding in the refugee quarter. Progress has been slow.”

He nodded, he knew where this was going. “I’ve already been approached by the president miss Sato. I explained to him as I will to you that right now we have our own reconstruction challenges. A partnership is not in our best interests at the moment, and there’s much more area for us to cover. It’s just not feasible right now.”

“A partnership would help us both.” She pointed out. She looked at the vines still tangled around the city. They couldn’t remove them all, they didn’t even want to try on behalf of the spirits. But if the city was to be a city, some had to be managed. “You’ve seen the spirit vines. Working around them is slowing things down. We don’t want to do them damage. We just don’t have the man power to work fast enough clearing abandoned buildings. Or to secure foundations for new districts.”

She continued. “A team of your engineers, the benders would be invaluable.” She insisted.

“And we cannot spare them.” he said. Under his employ, were several very lauded crews of earth bending workers. Who could accomplish in a day what took average crews and equipment weeks. They could feel the structures out, intuit the best patterns of build up for foundations. And of course, they could build without much equipment. All they needed was stone and time.

“Please Huan, you can’t spare one crew? Just that would help clearing out the condemned areas.”

“I’m sorry miss Sato. I’d of course be happy to lend them when they can be spared. But right now it is impossible.” He didn’t seemed annoyed with the conversation. But there was an air of finality in his tone. “I must concern myself first and foremost with my home.” He nodded to her. “Have a pleasant evening miss Sato.”

With that, he walked away, getting lost in the crowd. Asami’s shoulders slumped ever so slightly. But she didn’t want to give up. And she was a second away from following him when a cheerful and familiar voice spoke to her, a hand finding itself on her shoulder. “Miss Sato. I’ll never get used to hearing people call you that.” Asami turned, to find Korra by her side, made up for the occasion with a blue dress, hair tied into that bun she’d worn at the wedding, and a mask that didn’t hide her brilliant blue eyes. “So it went well?” she teased.

“Korra?” Asami smiled. “I thought you weren’t going to come. I thought you hated these sorts of parties.”

“That may have been a little bit of a knee jerk reaction. I’ve never been to this sort of party.” She said before taking a bite out of a kebab she’d snatched from a waiter’s tray. “But I think I could get used to this.” 

“I bet.” Asami laughed. “And it could have gone better.” She admitted.

Korra finished munching and set the stick on a passing trey. “Story of our lives. But I know what would cheer you up.” She beamed. She stepped in front of Asami, and like the dork she was, made a showy gesture of bowing and offering her hand. “Wanna dance?”

Asami smirked, taking the hand. “Always.”

They moved to the dance floor, while one of the slower numbers was playing. Korra put her hand on Asami’s waist, and the two began to shuffle, smoothly side to side. This wasn’t there first time, and they were fairly good by now. “So where’d you get the mask?” Asami asked.

Korra raised her eyebrow. “you mean they weren’t just handing them out?”

Asami sighed. “Uh… no. They came with the invitations.”

Korra shrugged innocently. “Well, I found this one over on a table downstairs. So… oops.” She smiled. “I’m sure the last owner won’t miss it too much.”

They continued to dance for a moment, both lost in each other’s eyes. Korra broke the silence, taking her in and dazzled by Asami as she so easily once. All done up and utterly gorgeous. “How do you always look so good?” she asked almost in a daze.

“It’s my superpower. You don’t look so bad yourself.” She smiled, meaning every word of it. Maybe they should go to these sorts of parties more often?

Korra rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but I’m not the one they were staring at earlier.” She grinned mischievously. “I was starting to worry I might have to knock some heads.” Asami shot her a look and Korra chuckled. “Politely of course. How many dance invitations did you get?”

“Jealous?” Asami asked. Korra scoffed but before she could answer, Asami continued. “Didn’t matter. There’s only one I said yes to.” She said, putting her own hand on Korra’s waist. 

She smiled, as they continued to sway, holding each other closely as the music swept over them. Korra got that look in her eye that she often did before she was about to start teasing “To be clear you meant me right?” she grinned. 

Asami rolled her eyes. “Yes I meant you.” She planted a small kiss on her cheek. “You dork.”

Their dance came to an end with the music as the crowd applauded the musicians, but they didn’t separate entirely. Still their fingers interlocked as they stepped to the side. “So what did he want?” Korra asked.

“Nothing.” Asami replied. “He didn’t even ask for anything. It was a full stop ‘maybe later.’” She said. “But I’m not giving up that easy.”

Korra’s eyes lit up. “Maybe I could help.” She said with a wink.

“Hmm?” Asami mused trying to think of what she was going to say when speaking to him again. When Korra’s words registered she narrowed her eyes at her. “Help how? You’re not gonna…”

“No.” Korra cut her off. “Besides Naga’s at home.” This caused Asami to laugh a little before Korra continued. “Resolving disputes is my thing.” She declared proudly. “I’ll just give him a little pep talk.” The way she said that, made Asami worry a little, but she trusted her at the end of the day. 

She shrugged. “Why not? Go for it.” Korra grinned, and planted another little kiss on Asami’s cheek.

“I’ll be back in just a second.” She said, darting off into the crowd to find Huan. A minute passed, and Asami sparked up a conversation with a few other engineers who were attending the party. They were off to the side as well, discussing a new sort of trolley system for easier public transport, with modifications to deal with the vines. In truth Asami didn’t mind these parties so much. Conversation came easily to her. But talking shop, that she never minded. 

A few minutes passed, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Korra. Behind her was Huan, scratching the back of his head and looking ponderous. She wondered what she’d said to him. Korra walked past without stopping. “Good luck.” She whispered continuing on, probably to find more snacks. She understood it was up to her to close the deal. She said her farewells to the other engineers and turned to Huan.

“So…” he said, seeming a little awe struck. “The avatar just came up to talk to me.”

Asami smiled a little. It was so easy to forget the effect Korra could have on people. Asami was so used to Korra being her closest friend (and lately more), she thought of her always as Korra first, and avatar second. With other people though? Talking to her was still a big deal. When the avatar talked, it was best to listen. “And she made some, interesting points.”

Asami would ask her about that later. “Considering changing your mind?”

He seemed hesitant. “Maybe…. Look I’m sure you understand, we want to do what’s best for our people. Everything is going into the reconstruction effort. Every asset is valuable.”

“Like I said. It doesn’t have to be a one way street. You have to need something.” She was dealing with the same thing no doubt. And she wondered what she could even offer. But she was adamant, and knew this trade would be best for all. And there was something more there too. 

She thought. Remembering the days of anarchy in the earth kingdom. How a lot of their airships had been lost or stolen. Of course with the rise of the empire that had been made up for to a degree. But some things hadn’t changed. And Asami’s ships… were still better. Faster, and perhaps most importantly, they could carry more. It would be a stretch, but the bending crew would be worth it. “What about this?” she explained her offer, agreeing to loan out a small section of airships free of charge, her assistance to the earth kingdom. And he’d do the same with one or two of his crews.

He placed his hands on his wastes. Mulling it over in his mind. Asami cast her glance outside to the city, the spirit portal glowing amid the once unified Republic city, and thinking of what it had taken to build it in the first place. 

“I know that in times like these, after the pain our instincts are to help ourselves.” She began. “And our people. Our nations. And we sort of block the rest out.” She said. “But I’ve lived my whole life in Republic city. A city made by all nations… for all nations. They built it to heal the damage of the past. And after everything that’s happened, I think the idea behind that is more important now than ever. To remember that spirit of cooperation.” He listened to her without interruption. “A lot can happen when we work together.” She repeated. She extended her hand in an offer. “Together?”

He looked at her hand, and took it, his shake firm and resolute. “You have yourself a bargain.” He smiled. She returned it as their shake ended. This would be good for both of them, for both republic city, and the Earth kingdom. “I’ll have my assistant contact yours about the arrangements. I think I can move within the week.”

“That sounds great.” Asami bowed. “Thank you so much Director.”

“It’s best for both of us.” He nodded. “Thanks for showing me that.” Her offered a curt bow of the head. “Until we talk again.” And with that, he was off, hands behind her back, disappearing into the crowd.

Asami breathed a sigh of relief. “Way to go Asami!” Korra declared, appearing beside her seemingly out of nowhere, almost startling her. “Knew you could do it, no one can turn you down.”

Asami smiled. “Thanks.” She said. “Resolving disputes is starting to be my thing too. So what did you say to him?”

Korra hand waved it away. “Oh you know. Just that the avatar would really appreciate if he heard you out again. Balance, the usual stuff.” She said. “We’re getting to be pretty good speech makers right?” she asked.

“I suppose.” She said, putting her arm around her. “It’s nice having the avatar as backup.” She smiled.

“It’s good to have a beautiful CEO on backup too.” She winked. They stood there a minute, enjoying the music, before Asami had to ask.

“You offered him an avatar favor didn’t you?”

Korra groaned, being caught. “A little one!” she said defensively. “And the speech too. He said no guarantees and that he’d have to hear you out again. You’re the one sealed the deal.” 

She was about to babble, so Asami leaned in, and this time, planted a soft kiss on the lips. Korra returned it, eyes closing as she did. They separated, and Asami beamed. “Thanks for your help Korra.”

“Anytime.” She replied, smiling at her warmly. 

Now it was Asami’s turn. She held out her hand to Korra, and bowed. “How about another dance?”

Korra grinned, taking her hand. “Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it was okay the first half was very Asami centric. I wanted to build up what she was doing here, and the idea of cooperation between nations. Hopefully there was enough Korrasami to work with the month. 
> 
> Also hello again! Welcome to Korrasami month again all! Hope everyone has a really fun time this month! I'm gonna do my darnedest to keep up with the schedule even though I'm already behind. Wish me luck!


	2. Scary Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a water tribe cultural festival, Korra and Asami are having a fun evening together when they decide to slip away from the crowd. Alone together, Korra gets the idea to play a little prank on Asami by telling her a story that had once sacred her as a kid.

Waves gently rolled into the bay, as all around them, the laughter and frivolity of a festival could be heard. A soft orange glow of a thousand lanterns came from the city, illuminating the dark, and clouded sky. Music and conversation drifted across the wind, catching Asami’s hair and tussling it about. Nights like this were often bitter cold, yet Asami had actually removed her winter jacket. Having Korra sit next to her, channeling a bit of heat with her bending was more than warmth enough to make the evening downright pleasant. 

They sat at a table, nearby a food stand as they ate. Korra scarfed down her food quickly, as she was trying her best to talk with her mouthful. She was telling the story of a sledding competition she’d won when she was younger. “At the last second, Nutaaq didn’t make the turn right. So his sled lost traction, spun up and I swear he flipped through the air four times before he landed face first in the snow.” She laughed.

Asami laughed in tandem, less at the story and more the excitement with which Korra told it. She was a good storyteller when she wanted to be. She was sure half of her stories were embellished to some degree, but the energy she brought to it made Asami hope they were true. “So what happened then?” 

“Then I won, of course.” She said, leaning back in a confident pose, crossing her arms. “Tonrar tried to ram me but I was too fast.” She shrugged looking to the side. “Winning probably wasn’t the smartest thing I could have done. Cause that guaranteed I’d get found out. When I got back to the compound, I was chewed out for sneaking away without permission.”

Asami smiled. “Even though you were in trouble I bet you bragged about it the next day.” She said, finishing up her own food.

Korra grinned. “The next day? I started right after I got home. Dad thought it was funny.” She said, surveying the crowd that was out and about. It was a sort of culture day, not like the one Asami had experienced when first visiting the water tribe years ago. This was more about history and stories. It wasn’t like anyone needed that much of an excuse to party. Korra had taken Asami out to see the sights, and as a sort of guide to explain this and that. She’d been particular curious to know about a parade that had passed by, with costumes and twisting sea snakes and the like. One such costume looked like a manta ray but with a sharks teeth. “I didn’t know that was a thing.” She’d said.

“They aren’t. They were just a story sailors would bring back about the great unknown seas.” Korra explained, wagging her fingers like it was spooky. “We have a lot of those.” It made sense Asami thought, Water tribe cultures probably had all sorts of sea monsters in their stories, being so connected to the ocean and all. 

The two got up from their seats and started walking around the festival grounds. Slowly drifting a way as a matter of fact, as it was starting to get to be that time where the two wanted to find some time alone together. “Let’s go.” Korra explained. “I know a place.” She took Asami by the hand guiding her around and through the various attractions and throngs of people. 

Asami followed, as the two found themselves in the middle of a parade. They sidestepped and passed the dancers and people playing their instruments. Asami was having fun in the party atmosphere when she looked, and noticed one of the dancers was away from the rest of the group, interacting with the crowd. It moved, oddly, contorting its limbs, which seemed longer as it walked on stilts. Parents laughed as their children tucked themselves away behind their coats, afraid of the thing as it would playfully lunge at them, acting as if it would snatch them up. The dancer was wearing a large, caricaturist mask with twisted features, large pale golden eyes and sickly green skin. With dark, soaked looking hair matted to its face.

The sight lingered in Asami’s mind as she was whisked away by Korra, out of the street and through the back alleys. She could still hear the kids worry and the parent’s amusement faintly echoing on the breeze.

The sound of the music died down, as did the chatter of the crowd. Asami put on her jacket again as Korra led her through an alleyway that came out by the edge of the bay. Several piers stabbed out into the dark waters, illuminated with pale light by the moon peaking its way through the clouds. Korra pointed at one of the larger piers. “It’s like a park sort of.”

It was indeed. The pier led out, almost half a mile into the water before opening out onto a small island. Water benders must really be used to the cold Asami thought if that was a leisure area. They walked out, across the long, wide pier. Benches were set up all around, along with sight enhancers, the kind you put a Yuan in and saw out across the bay. Probably to see incoming ships. The pair got out onto the island, Korra blasting a few minor puffs of flame out to heat the area up. Now up close, it was a beautiful little area. Sculptures made out of ice stood tall and proud around the area, which now struck her more as almost a large grotto. Water trickled through a bridge that tilted up and down creating a calming rhythmic noise. Several stone pavilions were spaced around the edges, half in the water, half on the island. One such structure is where Korra finished leading, once more heating it up. It looked like a place couples would hang around in. 

Korra smiled at her as they settled down, sitting on a stone bench fashioned out of the wall of the pavilion. “Having a good time?” she asked.

Asami, returned the smile, and the two kissed under the moonlight, their reflections rippling in the small waves of the water. “Of course.” She’d said when she finished. “Water tribe food, music…. Girls. What more could a city gal like me ask for?” she winked.

“Flatterer.” Korra grinned back. In seriousness, she was appreciative of Asami’s interest in their culture. It was her idea to go to this, and it wasn’t like it was just a tourist thing either, she genuinely wanted to learn more about it. So hey, best of both worlds she thought. Asami got to learn the traditions and customs of the southern water tribe, and got to spend time with the girlfriend too.

“It’s a lot to take in sometimes.” Asami said, thinking back to the parade. “Hey...” she began curiously. “What was that creepy thing? With the green skin and messing with the kids.”

Korra took a moment, trying to think of what she was talking about when it hit her. “Oh, you mean the Qalupalik?”

Asami shrugged. “Is it like a ghost or something?”

Korra was about to explain, when a wicked little idea came to her. She could have a little fun with this. Part of the festival spirit was education after all, about the spooky things lurking beneath the waters. So she put on her best acting face, and looked at Asami incredulously. “They don’t tell stories about the Qalupalik where you come from?”

Asami shook her head. 

“Oh well, they’re pretty common around here. It’s one of the first things we’re taught when we’re kids to watch out for them.”

Asami’s eyebrow raised. “You say that like they’re real.”

“I mean I’ve never seen one… I think but you hear stories.” Korra said, with an incredible Pai Sho face as she restrained herself from laughing. “Especially when kids go missing.”

As if on cue, the light of the moon faded, shrouded by cloud. The music so distant, took on an eerie sound given how the wind changed it from the source to them. There was even a light fog out across the bay. Perfect for telling ghost stories Korra thought.

“it’s one of the first things parents teach you. Don’t go off during a blizzard, don’t tangle with the polar bear dogs, and to never go close to the water alone. Cause the Qalupaliks will come up and snatch you.”

Asami shifted a little on the bench. Korra’s tone was classic campfire story. Asami knew it well, hell she’d done this a few times, telling stories when she was girl. But Korra’s tone was resolute, matter of fact and dripping with warning. “No one knows where they came from. Some say they’re the children of a princess who drowned at sea, dragged down by whatever’s down there just below the surface. That they’re a curse from the moon spirit. Ask a dozen people and you’ll get a dozen stories, but the way I heard it. They were another tribe, who lived close to the sea. No one knew much about them, they didn’t travel much and they never traded with anyone either. There was something off about them. Some say that they had pale eyes, or hid gills under their clothes. Word and rumor started going around. You know how suspicious people can be. Well word was, that a few kids had gone missing, and people started blaming this tribe. No one knew what the kids were taken for. After one kid from nearby village was lost, the people of the town got together to get the kid back from them. But when they got to the village, they found nothing. Every hut was empty, fresh fish still on the fire, it’s like they’d just up and left. A fog had swept over the village.” She added that detail to mimic the fog rolling in now. “They say the fog took the tribe, lured them out into the ocean where no one would ever see them again. But they didn’t drown or freeze. No… they changed out there.”

Asami narrowed her eyes. “Korra are you trying to prank me right now?” she asked with a sardonic smile.

“No!” Korra said defensively. “Look I’m just telling you what my mom told me. Can I continue?”

“By all means.” Asami chuckled to herself, not admitting that a chill had run up her spine.

“Right, so anyway a few months pass. And then ever more kids start vanishing. Into thin air. But this time, it seems like it’s only happening to the kids who go down to the shore. That’s when the stories of the Qalupalik start popping up.” Korra was having way too much fun. “People started seeing things figures, darting into the water before you ever got a good look at them. Silhouettes out of the corner of your eye, that sort of thing. They say you’d always know when a kid was about to disappear, because just before it would happen, you could hear a soft humming on the wind.”

“Well one day, this old man comes into the village half frozen, babbling about his daughter, how something had taken her how he needed help to find her. That she was there one second and gone the next. They sent out a search party, but they never found his daughter. A few days later, they tried to get out of him what he’d seen. He was half crazy by then anyway, but he told them about these things, lurking in the water. They looked almost like people at a distance, but the closer you got, the more you could tell something was wrong. Their heads are oddly shaped, on impossibly long necks. With dark hair falling across their face, obscuring their pale eyes. He said that their skin was green, and scaly. He told how he’d try to chase it, as it grabbed his daughter and put her into a pouch on her back, an amautiit, you’ve seen mom’s carry their kids in those around here sometimes. It just slinked back into the water, and carried off the girl who knows where.”

“So the story started spreading. And soon more kids were missing and more people were claiming to have seen them. Sailors would come back from sea with stories about entire schools of them swimming around their boats.”

“What do they do with the kids?” Asami asked, lost in the story. So lost, that when there was the sound of a soft splashing out in the bay, she snapped around to look at it. 

It took everything Korra had not to snicker. “No one knows. Maybe they eat them. Maybe they turn them into more Qalupalik. I heard an old lady once say that they put the kids to sleep, and drained the life from them. That’s how they survive, and as the kid gets older, the Qalupalik get younger and more human. That way they can trick their victims better. Even walk with us on land, with no one even knowing what they really are.”

There was another splash, and this time it was closer. Asami looked at it, and then back to Korra, giving a little sigh.

“Spooky.” She smiled. “But I get it like, it’s a cautionary tale. Never go alone to the water.”

Korra nodded. “It scared me to death when I was a kid to hear those stories. But I don’t know… A part of me thinks it may be true. there was a girl who went missing when I a kid.”

Asami looked at her. “Really?”

“Yeah, and I don’t know. One day I was out training and… it was like the humming the stories talked about. But not like normal humming. It was, off. Like when the wind howls, it sounded like that but… with moaning.”

Korra knew she had reeled Asami in. Now it was time for the crescendo. There was a sloshing of water, this was the closest sound yet. And Asami was starting to fidget every time she heard it. “So I ran out, wasn’t hard to cause this is when I could ride Naga. So I started following the humming. We must have ran for two, or three miles before we came up to a part of the cliffs. The moaning was loud, like… it was ringing in your head. And so we started looking along the coast, when we heard a scream.” 

Asami was holding her breath, eyes fixed on Korra.

“We ran as fast as we could to where we’d heard the scream. But it stopped really fast, and then there was the sound of a splash. We ran to the edge of the cliff, and looked down into the water to tell if we could see anything. The water was disturbed, and there was…” she paused, allowing herself to act like it was a horrible memory. “There was a glove floating in the water. Just for a second, when… long, clawed fingers reached up out of the water to pull it down too. And just before I ran away, I saw two… glowing eyes looking back at me from the water….”

There was a tremendous splash, almost a wave, as water sloshed up against the pavilion, getting their boots wet and spraying icy water onto their faces.

Asami let out a short, squeak of a scream as she jerked back, eyes wide. And Korra couldn’t stop herself. She busted out laughing, tears rolling down her cheeks as her gut began to twist in pain. Asami, realizing what had happened, frowned at Korra, with an almost pout to her lips. “Korra!” she cried. “Why you little.”

She shoved her on the shoulder, and because she was already rocking with laughter, she fell to the side. “I have… Never in my life.” She said, gasping for breath as she laughed between each word. “Gotten anyone that good.” She guffawed. Asami crossed her arms.

“Well with the…” she gestured at the bay and the water seeping back into the sea. “Water… I wasn’t ready for that. Bending is cheating.” She said, unable to help a smile forming at the corner of her lips. She couldn’t help it. Korra’s joy was infectious.

“Yeah…” she chuckled, slowly calming down and wiping away the tears. “That’s fair. Sorry.” She still was giggling softly to herself. “Oh that was great.” She leaned back up, wrapping an arm around Asami, and kissing her gently on the cheek, before using her bending to dry off her face and jacket. “You’re sooo going to get me back for this aren’t you?” Korra asked.

“Oh I will. And it will be brutal.” She glared playfully. “You’ll never see it coming.” She said, with that expression, the one that said ‘I will end you.’ As she had proven before, Asami could be very scary and intense when she wanted to be. 

Korra smiled. “That’ll be fun.”

Just then, another splash sounded off through the bay, the water disturbed only a few dozen yards away from them. Asami rolled her eyes. “You can’t get me twice.”

“That wasn’t me.” Korra said, defensively. Asami nodded clearly not believing her. “Honest!” she picked up a nearby rock. “Sometimes the tide just splashes it’s nothing weird.” She cast the rock out into the bay, it skipped a few times before sinking where the splash had come from.

“Suuuure…” Asami replied, drawing out the word. 

“Really I…” she was interrupted, as there was a crack of stone on stone. Both looked to see what it was and saw that the very same stone had been thrown back out of the water, landing just at their feet.

They both stared at it for a few brief moment of silence. Asami finally broke it grabbing Korra by the hand. “Wanna go?”

Before she’d even finished, Korra was nodding. “Yeah.” The two girls scampered up to their feet and back down the pier, back into the warm embrace of the festival, without once looking back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I really liked the prompt for this one. Cause I’m like, a super lore nerd. And I always wondered what kind of ghost stories or scary monsters existed within the avatar universe. I mean spirits lol but they don’t count. I came across the creature a long time ago from an Inuit story, and thought it would be an interesting fit for the water tribe culture! I kept the name the same thought cause I suck at naming things lol.
> 
> I really liked the idea of this actually existing in universe too! Or any sort of sea monster really. It may turn into an actual story but I won't get ahead of myself!
> 
> Anyway, I hope it was fun! Till next time!


	3. Superheroes (2017)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a world of heroes, Asami and Korra become embroiled in a mystery that spans the city and leads to a threat unlike any they've ever faced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So this is the same chapter as I used two years ago. And then I reused It last year too. This year, I'm going to advance its story in a part 2, but I'm reposting this as part 1. I'll update the chapter tomorrow with the new stuff! This is just for people to catch up if they want :)

The sounds of the city were a constant dull thrum in Asami’s office. The angry honks of horns, the unending churn of thousands of cars and the routine click every minute as a large billboard two buildings away changed its screen. Being a city girl her whole life she was used to it, but it was the constancy of it all that she knew could get on people’s nerves.

And yet this was a nicer office than outside appearances would suggest. After all money wasn’t really a question. It was prime real estate if a little out of the way. But the people who needed it could always find it easy enough. Sato Investigations was the name inked in black over the glass of the door. She was still working on a permanent name.

Asami was in the midst of tacking photos to her wall connecting all the disparaging elements of the cases she had been working on, as investigators are want to do when there was a small knock at the door. She set the tacks aside and pleasantly called for whoever it was to come in.

She reached her desk as the door swung open revealing a young woman. She was rail thin and looked like she had gone through hell and knew the touch of a needle intimately.

“Is this… sorry a friend said this was a good place to go.” Her voice was raspy probably from an abundance of drug use. Her clothes and makeup gave across a very punk look and it was clear she spent most of her time drifting from place to place.

“You’re in the right place.” Asami smiled offering her hand. The woman took it feebly and sat in the chair across from her desk.

She looked around hesitantly, eyeing Asami up to see if she was on the level. Apparently she deemed she was. “It’s just… I’ve alright been to the cops, but they don’t fucking care of course. And I don’t know what else to do.”

“Tell me what happened.”

The woman reached into her jacket pocket withdrawing a photo and handed it to Asami. It was a picture of the woman arm in arm with a scruffy but cheerful looking man. The picture was obviously taken during better times.

“Me and Han right, we were squatting in this old abandoned apartment building because we knew cops didn’t never go near that neighborhood. For awhile it was cool right? And we were thinking of making it a permanent stay if we could… but three nights ago these three assholes rock in with masks and beat us. At first I thought they were like hired force to get squatters out of the building, but they just beat on Han until he was out. Then they took him and I haven’t seen him since.”

This all comes out quickly, and the emotion was clear in her voice. She was on the edge, and Asami knew she was right about the cops. They wouldn’t even raise a finger to help a drifter druggie. No matter what had been done to them.

But this was only part of it. It wasn’t clear if the woman knew, but this wasn’t the first case of this sort of thing she’d come across. In the last week she had gotten four identical cases. Something big was going on.

“Where did this happen?” she asked.

“15th and Moon. By the wharf district.” She responded.

Asami looked at the picture, burning the image into her memory. “You’re not the first to have something like this happen.”

“I know. We were hearing stories going around about this sort of thing. We thought it was just a myth. So you’ll help? I don’t really have much but whatever I do it’s yours.”

Asami smiled trying to convey as much confidence as she could. “Don’t worry about that. Just tell me if you know any of these sorts of places these guys haven’t hit yet.”

\---

Asami stood on the barren fourth floor of what used to be a hotel. The wallpaper was peeling and several walls were either torn out or crumbled to rot giving the impression that this floor was just one big room. You could see to the end of the walls in almost every direction, and in the corners were several groups of huddled drifters. At first they had eyes her with suspicion, but the client whose name Asami found out was Jade had vouched for her promising she could help. She had asked them to do whatever they usually did as she staked out the area. This building was condemned and in bad enough of a neighborhood that cops didn’t frequent it much. Frankly she was surprised it hadn’t been hit by these snatchers yet.

It was rolling on midnight and there was still no activity, either from the goons or from a certain someone who wasn’t answering her phone. Asami punched the number and tried again.

“Hey, this is Korra. I’m super busy right now so leave your message at the beep. Later!” beep.

“Hey Korra, it’s Asami again. Did you get my messages? Cause I may be heading into something and some backup would be nice this time you super dork. So call me the second you…” she paused. Somewhere down on the street she was hearing the crunch of tires and the slamming of doors. She ran over to one of the many shattered windows and looked down. Below there was a fancy looking black SUV and five guys in black were piling out of it, one was shouting orders and pointing at the building. So the stakeout had worked, Asami mused.

“Yeah stuff is happening. Get your cute little but over here ASAP please or you’re gonna miss out on all the fun.” She hung up, and rushed over to the groups of drifters. “Alright, they’re here. Leave your fires up but go to a higher floor. I’ll let you know when they’re gone.”

It was a bit of a shuffle but eventually they followed her orders, and not too soon. The second they were out of sight, she heard footsteps rhythmically ascending the stairways.

Alright, thought Asami. One v five. No problem. Jade hadn’t mentioned any guns on them last time. So this would probably be cake. All that said she needed to be careful and the element of surprise would help. So she jumped up easily into one of the fallen out sections of the roof. Finding that the rest supported her weight, she watched and waited.

And in no time at all five rather large looking men approached the former campsite. They pulled back the bundles and blankets ready to attack, and there was a momentary lull as they stood around in confusion.

Now Asami and Korra were of two minds about this. Korra was a run in, knock some heads then ask questions sort. On normal occasions Asami would try talking first. Tonight though felt like a good night to use the Korra method.

She leapt from her perch and slammed her elbow down into the backmost one’s head. He crumpled to the ground immediately out cold. If she hand’t had good strength control she would have shattered his skull. Before they even knew what was happening she sideswiped another goon with her legs. He collapsed to the floor completely unprepared and wasn’t even able to catch his breath before she used her momentum to twirl herself around again and brought her foot down upon the man’s throat. Another one that was out.

The other three were catching on now though, each extended what looked like large batons. One took a swing at her, but she caught the motion with her hands and used his own momentum to throw him into one of the few remaining pillars. He hits, and was down.

The others both attacked in synch, and for the first time Asami was on the defensive. But that didn’t mean she was having trouble. She sidestepped them easily cracking another one upside the head with the other ones baton, and now it was just a one on one.

But when she turned to the last one, he had pulled something else out, dropping his baton. She only had a second to register it as a gun before he pulled the trigger. But there wasn’t a bullet. Instead Asami found herself hurtling back as some wide area of force began to shake and she was thrown back as if a hurricane was blowing her.

She hit the ground hard, but whatever that gun was had already put her in a daze. Her ears were ringing and her vision as blurred, and every muscle felt numb like when your leg fell asleep.

But she had the wherewithal still to brace herself for the coming onslaught. She was at least momentarily stunned, so she was surprised when nothing else happened.

So she focused down, shaking her head and demanding her body too work as she shakily got to her feet. Her ears stopped ringing and she heard thundering footsteps on the stairway. The guy was running away. Asami gave her head a few more shakes, blinking furiously. Whatever that gun did, its effects didn’t last long.

And as she walked over to the window once more, she could feel her body was back to normal. She arrived just in time to see the man piling into the SUV and start it.

She stepped up to the window sill, and then another step followed by a rush of wind and a sense of vertigo in her stomach. But she was used to it and slammed down to the ground just Behind the SUV unscathed.

The man watched this in his rear view mirror in terror as he slammed down on the gas. But Asami had already caught the bumper, and like it was nothing lifted it into the air so the back tires only spun on air.

The man tried again, but of course didn’t get anywhere. Asami raised a tentative eyebrow, making sure he saw it before she slammed the car back to the ground shattering the suspension.

He gave the gas a few more tries but the car was now damaged beyond repair, and Asami was already at his door. It was locked but that was no big deal. She pressed the handle and yanked the door clean off letting it come to rest in a pile of garbage by the alley.

The goon threw his hands up as she yanked him from his seat and slammed him up against the wall, holding him high enough that his feet couldn’t find the ground.

“Ready to have a chat?” she asked pleasantly.

The goon instantly nodded his head. “Yes, oh god just please don’t break me!”

“You’re the guys going around kidnapping people right?” he nodded. “Where are you taking them?”

“There’s an abandoned warehouse about seven blocks further down the wharf. Biggest building, you can’t miss it.”

“And what are you taking them for?”

“No idea. We just get paid lady. That’s all I know I swear.” He was terrified, which made her job so much easier. She didn’t figure he was lying, but handcuffed him and set him down anyway with the intent to bring him along in case she needed to know more.

With all the commotion, she only now felt that her phone was vibrating in her pocket. She withdrew it to see she had five missed calls from Korra. Oh great now she answered, thought Asami. She was about to hit redial to call her back, when out of nowhere two more Black SUVs rolled in.

She turned to the handcuffed goon. “Did you call for backup?” before he could answer, she saw that the guys piling out of the car this time, were packing guns. Wonderful.

She hauled the guy behind his own broken SUV for cover as a hail of gunfire began. Round after round was fired, and soon the SUV was looking like more of a wreck than what she had done to it.

“Not gonna punch your way outa this lady.” The goon cried. “Got anything else up your sleeve?”

Actually I do, thought Asami, and she stood up from cover, extending her hand. With a little bit of concentration, she envisioned the size she needed, and the gunfire was met with a different sound as the bullets were halted in mid air before falling to the street.

A dull hum was sounding through the alley as the air visibly shook in front of Asami. She was using sound waves very high in intensity as a kind of force field. In short, along with super strength, Asami was showcasing her earthquake powers.

The goons looked on in shock as their bullets fell uselessly unable to penetrate her sound wall. She had discovered this use of her ability a few years ago. It really helped in the shop whenever she was welding, and it also was nice to have when thugs were trying to kill you. But Asami had a problem now. As long as she was making the sound waves in this way, she couldn’t direct them with enough focus to push anything away. She was stuck in this defense unable to break it to raise the offense without getting shot. They had come to an interesting stalemate.

But just as things looked dire, Asami noticed the wind beginning to pick up. She smiled and held up the shield as the wind grew stronger. The goons were starting to realize whatever was causing it was unnatural, but it was too late. A strong gust launched four of them into the wall and held them there as a figure floated gracefully down from above, her feet connecting with the pavement almost daintily. She threw out her arm and another cluster of the men where hurtled into the air, their guns were lifted back to her.

The rest of them looked shocked and stopped firing intending to readjust their aim on her. But Asami was ready now. She allowed the sound wall to dissipate before she refocused and sent a shockwave directly at them. they, and their SUVs were flung into the back alley, and all came crashing down. SUVs totaled, and evil guys knocked out.

Korra turned around to face her, decked in a tight dark blue costume Asami had made for her. It was light and resistant, and most importantly stylish, though when did Korra ever not look good Asami mused. Though she had made a costume for her, she had never done one for herself. She preferred street clothes and the occasional mask.

Korra threw the guys around a bit before allowing them to fall. Most were too sore to move, while the rest booked it out of there.

“Took you long enough.” Asami called to her.

Korra gave an apologetic shrug. “Hey I made it in time for the fun stuff right?” she beamed, before jogging up to Asami and wrapping her in a hug. “You okay? They didn’t hurt you did they?”

Asami returned the embrace before giving herself the once over for any bullet holes. “Nope. I seem fine.” She smiled before she remembered they had a hostage of sorts.

She turned to look at the handcuffed goon who now was looking thoroughly terrified. Asami picked him up and set him forcefully down on the remains of the SUV. “I called for backup too.”

\---

Half an hour later, both Korra and Asami were standing outside the warehouse that the goon had assured them is where they were taking their kidnap victims. The only way to get to the warehouse was on a long walkway that led out in the harbor. The warehouse was meant to house ship supplies that could be loaded without the cargo ship having to completely dock.

There had been no guards or lookouts, which was suspicious Korra thought, though she pointed out they could have used all their manpower back in the alley. They found the only door that wasn’t covered with rust and dust figuring it was the one used by the goons. Asami used her shockwave to knock it off its hinges. The girls stormed inside finding themselves in a lit hallway. At the end of which was a door, and one guy in a suit who looked at them in confusion.

All he pulled out was a tazer. “Aw…” laughed Korra. “I almost feel sorry for him.” And with that, she shot a torrent of air at him that hit with the force of a cannon, slamming him against the wall and he was out cold.

At the noise of the tussle, yelling and knocking came from the other side of the door. It sounded like a dozen people were back there. “Everyone stand back.” Asami ordered. It sounded like they all did and another door came crashing to the ground.

Out ran a dozen of the victims. All of them looked like they had been horribly beaten but all of their eyes were filled with thanks and relief. One of whom, was Han from Jade’s picture. Asami singled him out specifically. “Jade asked us to help you.”

“Jade? She’s alright?” he stuttered. Asami nodded and he bowed in thanks.

“Alright.” Shouted Korra. “Let’s get you all out of here.” The girls started directing them back down the hall, when Asami heard an odd noise coming from their left. She looked, the hallway they were in turned down another path that opened up into the warehouse proper, and the main shutter doors were sliding up. Beneath it marched three men in suits, one of whom struck her as not just another goon. His hair was dark, his suit was flawlessly tailored, and something about his sharp, angular face unsettling her. And immediately, he saw that his stock was being pilfered.

He gave a command, and the mend began rushing forward. “Everybody run!” Korra shouted and all darted from the hall and out into the open air. Korra and Asami were the last ones to reach the door just as the goons rounded the corner.

In perfect synch, Korra and Asami stretched out their hands sending a force of wind and sound to throw the thugs back like rag dolls. The girls gave each other an approving nod, but that is when the crime leader appeared as well.

Each moved their arms, ready for the same tactic, and this time the wallpaper was ripped from the walls from the combined force… but the man remained unmoved, walking casually forward as if this was a normal occurrence. The girls shot a concerned look at each other before doubling their force, and still the man marched ever forward, looking more annoyed than anything.

“Run?” asked Korra.

“Run.” Replied Asami.

The girls booked it from the door and back out across the long walkway, the rest of the victims were already back on the sidewalk. Asami cast a look over her shoulder and saw that whoever this guy was, he was still coming. She skidded to a halt, and aimed both of her fists down at the floor. At once the whole platform began to shake, and a horrible creaking sound echoed through the night. Cracks began appearing along the walkway as the steel supports began to fail.

First one collapsed, then the other, and in a second about eight yards of the thing began to collapse into the water, creating a large gulf between them and the man.

He stepped up to the end of his walkway, stranded. He couldn’t make that jump, and the look on his face confirmed that for Asami. She and Korra watched him for what he would do next. He simply stared down at the rift, face free of emotion, before he turned his back and began walking casually back to the warehouse as if this was just his morning stroll.

Asami looked to Korra and saw her look of worry mirrored back to her. This was the first time in their lives their powers hadn’t affected someone, and that shook them to the bone.

But Han and the others bunched up around them, faces filled with a tired relief. It was time to get them home, or at least far away from here.

\---

The next day, both Korra and Asami watched from their desk as Jade and Han reunited.

The two fell into an embrace, and it was clear that they were more than just friends. Jade’s eyes even began to water the moment she saw him standing there. “I was so sure you were dead and thrown in some ditch somewhere.” She whispered.

“I keep telling ya you worry too much.” He replies sweetly.

“What happened?” she finally manages to ask once she collects herself.

Han shot the girls a look. They had talked about this beforehand. For obvious reasons, their powers were something they wanted to keep on the secret side of things. He had seen them using them, but had promised to keep it secret. In truth he was probably scared more than anything about what would happen if he started telling people.

So he just shrugged it off. “Don’t know. None of us even knew what they ever wanted. But thanks to these two.” He says gesturing at them, “The cops found us in no time.”

That was the agreed upon story. The girls had just done what detectives did before contacted the appropriate authorities who took it from there. Why wouldn’t anyone believe that? Plus it was unlikely Jade was going to be watching the news anytime soon and note the lack of coverage.

“Thanks, both of you.” She says genuinely. She begins pulling some bills from her pocket.

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Asami says stopping her. “We’re just glad we could help.”

Korra catches Han’s attention. “So remember, stay on the north side of the city as best you can from now on. And if you see these guys again, give us a call.”

They had relocated them along with the other victims in a way. There was a shelter in the north district they could stay at. Hopefully that would be enough. And it was a sure bet that these two would be cautious after this.

Jade bowed her thanks several times, with Han giving them both a nod of “I got this secret.” And they both left.

Korra leaned herself off from the desk watching after them. “Think they’ll be okay?”

“I hope so.” Asami answered, admitting to herself that she wasn’t sure, looking back to the quickly drawn sketch sitting on her desk. “And now we have this to deal with.”

Korra eyed the sketch. “Think he’s the one behind all this? Backing all the crime and stuff?”

Asami nodded. He certainly struck her as the crime boss type. But being a Triad leader was one thing. This was something else entirely. She lifted up the sketch of the suited man and tacked it to her ever expanding wall of crime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah! I'll update the chapter tomorrow with part 2 of the story!


	4. Superheroes (2017)-Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few months after their encounter with the mysterious villain, Korra and Asami are staking out a speech they believe to be under threat. When it turns out they're right, the chase is on sending them into a conflict with other superpowered beings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to make this its own chapter rather than updating the last one! I thought that'd be easier for anyone reading.

“I’m bored.” Korra whined, as the two sat on a balcony, the warm night air carried on a pleasant breeze around them.

Asami smiled. “No one said stakeouts were exciting.” 

“I know that’s why I usually skip them.” she replied. “Are they always like this?”

Asami looked down at the crowd. Actually this was one of the better ones. Usually there was nothing to even watch. You just sat there for half the day before you finally catch a glimpse of them leaving. At least with this stakeout the streets bellow were packed with a throng of people watching the speech. The Mayor of the city was currently discussing the rapid increase of crime rates around the city, with a focus on violent crimes at that. This was thanks to the mess she and Korra had stumbled into a few months ago. Since then things had only gotten worse. More homeless folks targeted, and beyond that they were getting more bold. Attacking now almost indiscriminately. That had got the polices attention. But they weren’t close to putting an end to it. It seemed like for every thug put away, two more would pop up to replace them.

Asami and Korra weren’t having much better luck. It seemed like they were always one step behind. Always chasing, never getting ahead. And never getting closer to the man who they’d encountered at the wharf warehouse. He’d withdrawn to the shadows, using his lackeys to get the work done. One of those lackeys, with a little persuasion had dropped tonight as the night something big was going down. He didn’t say more than that, but it was disconcerting nonetheless. An ominous air had been smothering them all day in the lead up. That’s why they were staking out the speech. It seemed like the highest profiled thing that could be messed with. But so far… nothing.

“It sucks sometimes.” Asami said. “Think this is bad, come along during the winter. That’s when it’s the worst.” 

Korra shuddered. “No thank you.” She said, scanning the rooftops. They’d looked along them as best they could, but found nothing and no one. She shimmied up closer to Asami. “On the other hand, maybe we could keep each other warm.”

Asami turned from the speech and looked at Korra. “Sounds like fun. Couldn’t be too much fun though or we might miss whatever happens.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Korra smiled playfully before Asami rolled her eyes with a grin.

“You’re terrible.” She said before looking back at the crowd through a camera. As she scoped out the podium, she couldn’t help herself, adding. “But maybe later.”

Korra laid back on the balcony, staring up at the sky. “Sounds good to me.” The two remained silent for a second before Korra broke the silence. “Maybe that guy was full of it. Nothing is happening and it hasn’t all night.”

“What like he wanted to lead us off the trail?” Asami asked. “He didn’t seem like the brightest bulb.”

“Maybe he didn’t know the full plan. I mean it’s not like a low tier street thug is gonna know the whole operation. Maybe when he said something big, he didn’t mean this.”

“If so, what else can we do?” Asami asked, looking at the city skyline, casting its yellow glow up into the sky. “We can’t patrol the whole city.”

Korra shrugged. “True but if it’s going down here, what are they waiting for?” they’d gotten more bold since the pair had first encountered them, and hitting a press conference would fit right in with the MO, whatever that was. Still they didn’t know what they wanted. Or how they’d do it. Security was tight, Asami and Korra were only here because they had police connections. What was the plan? Bombs were out the place was searched, and that wasn’t this syndicate’s style. So were snipers. No one in that crowd could have a gun. If somebody wanted to attack, how could they do it?

A second later, the two had their answer. There was a rumbling sound, as the street seemed to shake. Instantly, Korra looked at Asami raising her hands as if to ask her what she was doing. Asami shook her head, getting to her feet. “This isn’t me.” She said. But it was odd, there were never earthquakes in this region. People screamed and got low to the ground, as the building the press conference was in front of, began to shake. There was an enormous crack that pierced the night with its echo as a chunk of the building was split, parallel to the ground. The crack ran several stories putting the people at risk, all the way up to the tower that was at the top of the building on the third floor. People scattered, running in every direction. The police surrounding the mayor started to move her, as the cracked section of the building groaned, and started to fall forward. 

The two girls looked at each other, and instinctually acted in tandem. They planted their feet, and raised their hands. Asami sighed, as she let out a shockwave that streamed from her palm. Korra sent an incredible hurricane of wind, directed and focused, both hitting the falling section of the building squarely. There was a tremendous creaking as it seemed to work in holding up the building. But both were straining at their limit to do this, muscles tense, veins pulsing as they held the weight in place. 

The cops, got things into gear, and started moving the mayor and the crowd to safety. They’d need to clear most of the street before the girls could let go. “They see us.” Korra groaned. Sure enough, onlookers were peering up at the balcony to see the spectacle. There’d been no time to put on masks. But at least it seemed that they knew what the two were doing, and not suspecting this was them. 

Asami scanned the crowd, seeing if anyone had any cameras. It was tough under the pressure, but still she was able to take a moment, as something odd caught her eye. Back in the crowd, everyone was running, save one person, and their arm was raised to the building too. He turned, looking like he was straining as well. And she realized that he was fighting them. Trying to drag the building down. She gasped at the revelation. As far as she knew, she and Korra were the only ones with powers in the city, with the exception of the leader of this syndicate. But this was someone else. She pointed this out to Korra as best she could. And it took no time for her to reach the same conclusion. “Is he working for them?” Asami asked through gritted teeth.

“Don’t know! In a second we’ll ask him.” She barked back. A few seconds later, the street was clear, and the mayor was half a block away in her motorcade. The thug, seeing this, let go, and bolted. Running into the building opposite the press conference. Suddenly it wasn’t so hard to hold up the building. That said it was already at a forty degree angle to the street, and there was no putting it back. The two made sure it was safe, before allowing it to drop with a cacophony to the ground, in a swirl of smoke. The two girls gasped for breath, Asami grabbing onto the railing to steady herself.

“Exciting enough now?” she asked Korra through deep breaths. Korra smiled at her, a bead of sweat rolling down her face. 

“You got that right.” She replied. The two looked over to where the man had vanished. On the roof of the building, three stories up, stood another figure, dressed as shadily as the attacker had been. He could even have been helping take the building down. 

Korra in an instant, leapt up to the railing with one foot, pressing off it with a rush of air, jumping, no flying up to the roof. She looked back down at Asami. “Go!” she cried, running back inside. “I’ll find the stairs!” Korra darted off for the thugs as Asami looked for a way up. “Not everyone can fly.” She muttered under her breath.”

\---

A few seconds later, Korra had leapt from the building they’d been at to the one the thug had rushed into. The Man already on the roof seemed to take notice of this, turning to face her. She expected him to pull a gun, but instead, a six inch sheet of sharp metal was flung her way. She had to use her airbending to dodge it, losing her momentum and footing and stumbling until she hit the roof hard with her shoulder as she fell. She hadn’t been ready for that. She looked back up to see the man, more razor sheets of metal tied around his arm. “Whose giving the bad guys super powers?” She hissed, ducking behind a chimney to avoid another shot. She peered back around, to see a door burst open on his roof, with the other guy from below meeting him. The two nodded and made a mad dash across the rooftops, the one throwing one more shot at her for good measure. 

Korra stood up from the chimney just as Asami caught up with her. “Was that guy throwing metal?” she asked. “With his mind?”

Korra shrugged. “Guess they’ve been ramping themselves up.” She said. “Maybe we made an impression at the warehouse.” The two started running after them, leaping from one roof to another. “So one has earthquakes or sonic stuff like you. And the other guy can maybe throw cars.” She said with a sigh. “Don’t you miss when they just had guns?”

“Be careful.” Asami warned as they ran. “We don’t know if they’ve got something else up their sleeves.” They weren’t that far behind the thugs now, and the building were getting shorter. Asami knew the layout of the city and knew there was a courtyard in the direction they were running. Maybe that’s where they had their getaway plan.

It looked that way, because the thugs were coming to the end of this line of buildings, and didn’t look like they were slowing down. They reached the buildings edge just above the courtyard, and both leapt off without hesitation. The two men hit the ground first, and Korra saw at the left end of the courtyard were pair of lights. In the dark she first thought it was a truck, but looking closer she saw it was a pair of motorcycles, their riders wearing the same clothing as the two men who had attacked them.

“It’s their getaway!” Asami shouted to her. Not if she could help it Korra thought. She swerved left on the roof, now angling for the cycles rather than their two assailants. Without hesitation she launched herself from the roof, a splash of powerful air boosting her the distance she needed. Halfway through her fall, she drew her energy into a kinetic kick, adding force to the blast, and even in midair her aim was true. The men on the bikes hadn’t even reacted with the blow landed equidistant from between them resulting in a forceful blast. One man, was blasted away, his rider ripping in two and landing in a heap a few yards from him. The other man too was blasted aside, only he was unfortunate enough to find his ride launched into the air, before crashing down on his legs.

Korra kicked a measured blast at the street so as to decelerate herself before landing. Still she allowed her legs to give after making contact, and tucked into a roll before coming up right. The two attackers looked on the scene with more annoyance than surprise, as both raised their arms in stances signifying they were ready to fight now rather than run. Korra flicked a glance at the building she had leapt from to see Asami having just scaled herself down from the third story balcony. She wouldn’t have been able to take a three story jump as well as she. The man who hadn’t been crushed by the bike shakily got to his feet, and seemed happy to pair off with Asami as the two were closer together, leaving Korra in a two on one. the Taller man had some power over stone She knew while the shorter man had metal, which he demonstrated by lifting one half of the torn apart bike and hurtling it at her. 

She ducked and rolled to the side avoiding the bike hurdling with bone braking speed. She rolled to her feet, narrowly side stepped the blasts the other guy was beginning to throw as he lifted brick after brick from the street. The other man was lifting the bike once more to attack, but before he could, she kicked a jet of air at the back, knocking it towards him now so he had to leap aside to avoid it. The taller man was still pressing his attack and advancing closer.  
She avoided what she could and launched a few air streams to knock aside the bricks he was controlling as a manner to block them. The two engaged in a heated exchanged, each firing off a series of strikes. It was a proper duel now, as each could attack several times in a second. With air and earth swirling between them as the few shots that got past would cross over a shoulder or just to the side. The metal guy had collected himself and was circling her now, but she took a few momentary opportunities to send a few strikes his way to discourage this.

He locked his elbows, as three razors appeared at his side, floating in an arch. Trying to time it with his accomplice, her launched one, when she was already blocking two other strikes from the tall attacker. To counter, she sent a blast with her fist, but also raised her foot to block the other brick, and so already giving into the momentum, she arched her back, pressing herself into a cartwheel, thus bringing up her other foot which she kicked out with enough force, that when colliding with the razor, sent it careening off before slicing an inch into the ground. Before she was on her feet again, the tall man arched a side swipe stones that caught her, but it only grazed, doing no real damage. . But she was quick, and once her feet were steady again, she leapt up, and with a boost from her air, easily cleared the attack which rushed by below her.

As she was falling back to the ground, the man with the razors, took aim and launched both blades at where he knew she would land, one where her head would be if standing, and another for her chest. Seeing this, once she landed, she immediately allowed her legs to buckle, as she crouched close to the ground, the two blades whisking over her with one being close enough to shear a few strands of hair from her wolf tail.

In this crouch, she had a good position, and swung her leg around, once to send a horizontal streak of air at the metal man, then rounding around allowing momentum to carry her and sending another at the tall attacker. The razor thug seemed to be less dexterous then his compatriot, and as so was unable to dodge the blow which connected solidly with his shins, knocking him back. The other man though was more mobile, dodging the gust, but she had expected this, and had never stopped moving. Still rotating, she used a hand to prop herself against the chilled stone of the courtyard, and a foot as well as with her still spinning leg she arched herself at an angle, kicking into the air where she could best guess him to be at that moment. The stream of air hit him square in the chest, as he fell back to the earth, all air knocked from his lungs as he landed flat on his back.

In the momentary lull, Korra stood herself upright and cast a look over to Asami. She had been doing her best to be aware of her duel since the fight began. She was struggling. This was unlike any fight they’d ever been in, so they had to change their styles to deal with the powers, and the man she fought was a stone thrower too. The man Asami engaged was fainting, to the side. He would faint right with powerful movements, getting in one or two good strikes which Asami had to dodge or meet with her own sonic force. Then when Asami was the most open, the man would use subtle flicks with his left hand, drawing attacks from Asami’s open side. Coming dangerously close to connecting. With the subtle movements, none of the blows could be outright deadly due to lack of force, but they were coming close to tripping her up enough so a full powered right hook could.

Korra blasted a few shots to cover herself from her own attackers who were already getting up as she sprinted for Asami and her opponent, who was doing the same thing as before. This time however, the faint covered for a chunk of the street to connect with the side of Asami’s head, with enough force to send her spinning. Korra was too far away to do anything, and saw that the fourth attacker, was pulling himself from the wreckage of his cycle at the same time.

But when she looked back to Asami, she saw that she was rather clever herself. The rocks had only grazed her, and she was spinning to cover a blast she was building in her palm. When she turned, she hit him with it, and there was enough force to lift him off his feet. The man tumbled back, and was still by the time he hit the ground.

By this time, Korra had almost been upon them, so she continued to sprint, leaping over the fallen man, giving a brief smile to Asami as she passed. Now she was charging right for the man who had just stood himself up from the wreckage, but he wasn’t ready for her. She leapt forward, smashing her fist down into his chest, with a blast of air for good measure. He crumpled immediately, leaving only two men left. She looked back expected both to have chased her. The lead man had but the other had broken off to pick up the battle with Asami.

The man coming after her though had been fast, and he was already almost on top of her. She drew up a fist in an attempted uppercut which he batted away with one hand as he crashed into her knocking her back. The pair stumbled but neither fell, but he had the advantage now as he rained two blows down onto her guard, no element this time though. Her arms rocked with the force of each, forcing her to one knee.

Another blast of force came crashing on her, and it was then he moved for the kill. His body twisted as he moved to bring a powerful elbow down on her head, but already being on her knee, she kicked off the ground with her foot, somersaulting back just in time, as the force of his strike crashed into the stone below, cracking it in several places.

Korra used the momentum to stand once more, and prepared for his next attack which came as a series of kicks. Simple muscle and speed. She ducked the first and caught the second, but he pulled back before she could grip anything. Now the two were engaged in a hand to hand exchange. Kicks and lunges were shared, with her being the faster but him being the stronger. She landed two palm strikes directly over his heart that seemed to give him pause, which he returned with a knee to her stomach. She coughed, nearly winded by the blow as he lurched forward to go for a strike to her neck. But her fingers wrenched themselves around his wrist catching it, and twisting it hard. She was strong too of course enough that this almost broke it.

In desperation, he swung with his free hand, and this too she caught. But before she could twist it, he brought his boot down on her knee with an impressive display of dexterity. It was enough to separate the two, and both took the opportunity to strike. Both fell back, her out of pain, he out of instinct, as she kicked her leg upwards, sending a blast of air under his chin while at the same time her sent a jab forward, a brick hitting her square in the chest.

She went rolling back head over heels, again winded and in pain as he arched through the air landing on his back. He began to scramble to his feet As he moved he looked upon his wrist anger, looking broken.

He spat, before striking his fist forward in a powerful motion. Along with the motion, a swirl of flame blasted forward, a blow Korra only narrowly side stepped after jumping to her own feet, the heat of it warming her exposed face. earth wasn’t his only tool, he had been saving this in reserve she knew. His blasts were powerful as his anger, but still not quite up to level with her own.

He was up fully now and braced to launch himself forward, but Korra had risen completely first and was already moving. It was risky, but she had to get in close. She shot herself forward, using the wind to increase her speed as she leapt up in a high arch. He shot at her with his flames, but was too slow, as she soared over him, clearing the thug with ease.

He began to turn his head to meet her behind him, but it was too late. Korra landed with her right foot, and with the same foot pressed against the stone to launch herself again in his direction. She curled her leg, so her foot would be pointed perpendicular, away from her target, as a blast gushed from the same foot, amplifying her momentum, as her knee collided with his head with enough force to lift him cleanly from the air, and to send a sickening thud to echo through the courtyard.

He went spinning off, collapsing to the floor in a heap as Korra landed softly to the stone, with an odd since of grace she never used to have. The man stirred, but she was on him in a second, pressing her knee into the back of his neck. She didn’t have to ask him to yield, the motion was clear enough. He coughed and spat blood from his mouth, as he stretched out his fingers in the sign of submission.

Her heart was still beating rhythmically, and she was only slightly out of breath. Mostly she was exhilarated. Her knee, though was in a tremendous amount of pain, and she suspected to find a sickly bruise by morning, there and several on her chest. Footsteps sounded to her left, as she flicked her gaze to great them. Asami was walking towards her, the fourth man lying motionless in her wake, as she wiped blood from her cheek from a scratch where she’d been hit, holding a set of hand cuffs for her to see. “Need em?”

“Yes please.” She nodded, and in a moment he was cuffed, which was perfect cause it seemed they had to move to use their powers. Beyond that he was probably not going to be able to move for a few minutes after the blow he had received. Still now that he was secured, she removed her knee from his neck and flipped him around so as to lay him on his back, before turning to Asami, checking to see if she was okay. She was bleeding from the cheek, but that seemed to be the only hit she’d taken.

“Are you okay?” Korra asked, with a smile.

Asami put her hands on her hips. “Yeah. Phew… that was my first superpower fight.” She said exhausted.

“Mine too.” She looked down at the man, as sirens could be heard only a few blocks away. It would be best to leave before they got here. But first, they had to find out whatever they could. 

Asami turned to the thug. “What are you planning?” she asked. “Killing the mayor would have brought down the hammer on you and you’re crew.” Why do something so risky?

The man grinned, spitting blood from his mouth. “See, that’s the funny thing. We was never trying to kill her.” He laughed, something grinding in his jaw as he did. “We were just there to get the ball rolling.”

The two girls looked at each other with worried expressions. The sirens were getting close, so with no other choice, they had to make a run for it. By the sound of things it wasn’t a moment too soon as the cops entered the courtyard with their cars. A few blocks away, once they were sure they were in the clear, the two finally had a moment to sit and catch their breaths. As they did, Asami removed her phone, and began calling her contact in the police. She put it on speaker so Korra could here.

Their cop friends name was Mako, and when he answered, he sounded distressed. “Where are you guys?” he asked. “There’s a force out looking to question you.” He asked.

“Don’t worry about us.” Korra said. “We just nabbed a few thugs, the ones that took the building down.”

“What happened to the mayor?” Asami asked. “Did they get her out safe?” there was a moment’s pause. As it sounded like Mako was in a crowd, a chaotic one at that. “No.” he said. “We lost contact with her convoy a few minutes ago.”

Korra and Asami locked eyes. “That was the distraction.” Asami said, “The attack was just to funnel her in a direction they knew her convoy would take. They couldn’t take her in the open. They had to get her away, isolated.”

Korra sighed. “The question is, what for?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot! Finally after two years! I followed up! Only to leave another cliffhanger. Hopefully it won't take two more years to get the last part finished XD thanks for reading! :)


	5. PTSD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra watches the world spiral into further chaos after her battle with the red lotus, and Asami comes to understand how much they took away from her that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning-PTSD
> 
> So I wrote this for a prompt a long time ago. For this month though, I've redone a lot of it, editing and changing things. So if you read it before, it's updated :) I really loved writing this back then, and I've been tweaking it ever since.

“It has been five weeks now since the appearance of new airbenders who have been appearing at seeming random all across the world. This Friday, Master Tenzin, the leader of these new air nomads and son of the previous avatar, has indicated a big announcement is coming that is sure to shake up these politically unstable times even more.

In related news, he and several other officials we have contacted have refused to make any comment as to the state of the current avatar, simply stating that she is still recovering from her torture at the hands of the terrorists, the red lotus. The avatar herself has not been able to be contacted, and has made no statement.

The nature of her injuries have only been vaguely conveyed, though it is safe to assume that they must have been severe given her lack of appearance as the earth kingdom continues to collapse after the assassination of the earth queen. This then begs the question of who will step up in the mean time and when will the avatar return and what is to be done if she is no longer capable of fulfilling her responsibilities to the world? What can she be expected to do….”

Asami’s tone had grown increasingly bitter the further down the article she read. By the time she got to this last sentence, she was nearly seething. She tossed the paper across the room and it came to rest at the threshold of Korra’s room.

“I think I know what a few of them are expecting of me.” Korra said coldly. She’d ask, or rather demanded as well as she could that Asami to read it to her, despite her efforts to hide it from her. trying to situate herself in her bed after the throw. Asami was at her feet in a moment, helping readjust Korra’s pillow as she shifted in her bed uncomfortably. 

“Don’t talk like that.” Asami offered. “Their reporters, it’s their job to be as sensationalist as possible.” A fact Asami knew all too well. 

“I know…” Korra began as if she was going to say more, but instead she just let out a long sigh. Conversations went like that a lot since the red lotus incident. Korra would drift off or barely engage in conversation. And that was okay thought Asami, as she’d wanted to give her space and allow her to go at her own pace. But it was still hard to watch every time.

Asami wanted to keep the conversation going, and as she fluffed the pillow she continued. “Remember the article they wrote about me after we found out my dad was an equalist? They flat out accused me of being the same, just because they could. They’re leeches, and you shouldn’t worry about them.” that was the least of what they’d said. It didn’t take long for the mainstream thought to be in her favor, but always there would be one outlet or another accusing her of this or that. Basically chomping at the bit to see her slip up. And she knew how similar and in some cases worse the situation had been for Korra. Being the avatar was a terrible responsibility, with everyone and their mothers offering their unwarranted opinions on how best to do her job.

“I remember the one after that. When you and Mako and Bolin were arrested. They’ve always jumped on any opportunity to question what I do or call me out. I can’t remember the last time I saw one that was positive.” Korra replied, not looking at Asami but vacantly at her own lap. 

If this had been a drain on her before, it was worse now than ever. But even with that said, now it was going way too far after what had happened. They had no right Asami thought.

“You can’t let them get to you. We both know you’re gonna get better. Asami smiled, that reassuring and sweet smile that had always brightened Korra’s mood once she’d got to know her. But Korra gave no response instead just turning her gaze out the window. A lack of answer stung worse than a negative one. Asami could tell, Korra wasn’t believing that anymore. 

The last few weeks had been terrible. Ever since the red lotus had poisoned her, Korra had been bedridden and distant. The bombastic showy girl had been torn apart by what they did, and it broke Asami’s heart to see her struggle so. Which is why she had spent more time on Air temple island than not so she could help however she could. She wanted to help as best she could, in whatever way was needed. But more and more, she understood that neither she nor anyone else ‘knew’ what was needed.

She knelt down and placed a reassuring hand on Korra’s shoulder and a sad smile grew across her lips as she spoke softly. “You know that right? If anyone can it’s you.” Korra didn’t flinch when she touched her, that was a good sign after the last few weeks. 

Again Korra said nothing, but she turned from the window and was looking Asami in the eye at least, and these days that was no small thing. Korra’s eyes weren’t filled with sadness, instead, it was almost like she was empty, that there was very little light behind them. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. I know that this isn’t anything permanent.” Asami tried to insist.

It looked like Korra was about to say something. But then something even better happened. The corner of her lips curled up in the faintest trace of a smile. It had been so long since Asami had seen that, a genuine one. She had forced a few to reassure Tenzin or the airbender kids that everything was okay, and that she really believed she would get better. She’d even faked it for Asami and the boys a few times. But this one was true, she could just tell. A bit of light came back into those brilliant blue eyes.

“Thanks.” Her voice croaked out. Asami’s face lit up at this, but it was growing clear with the sluggishness of her movements and narrowness of her eyes that Korra was starting to get tired.

So Asami offered a nod and rose to her feet. She had spent enough time with her after what had happened that a kind of unspoken understanding had grown between them. Little ticks in their movements began to say a lot. Asami knew when to press and knew when to back off. And so she helped Korra slide down under the sheets, before she moved to close the shutters of the window. She cast a glance back to Korra to watch a few of her trembling breaths, before picking up the newspaper and leaving the room.

\---

She slapped the paper down on the table before taking a seat. Pema appeared offering her a drink and sitting down across from her. She’d been a tremendous help the last few days too. 

“Have you seen this?” Asami asked, pointing a finger at the top article.

Pema nodded. “I don’t understand how they can write something like that. How did Korra take it?”

“Not well.” Asami said taking a drink. “But… I don’t know. I think Korra would take it more as a challenge than anything. She’d want to prove them wrong.” The old Korra would anyway. 

Even as she said the words, she knew this was different. It may have been true before, but Korra was hurt this time, so much more than anyone should ever have to deal with. And Asami knew how much being the avatar meant to her, not being able to do what she felt was her duty would burn worse than almost anything else. It reminded her of when Amon had taken her bending, only amplified by the horrendous torture she’d received. The image of Korra, beaten, bloodied and bruised, face contorted in pain, eyes glowing, on deaths door after defeating Zaheer flashed in her mind. She shook it away, not wanting to ever imagine it again. 

“Do you think we should keep letting her see the news?” Asami asked. The news was a constant stream of awful these days. Especially with the anarchy in the Earth Kingdom. It was hard to be optimistic, but Korra had insisted on staying up to date.

“If she wants to see it, then yes.” Pema replied. It only now dawned on Asami how quiet things were at the moment. Quiet was the normal as everyone wanted Korra to be as comfortable as possible, but this was eerie.

“Where is everybody?” Asami asked. The Island had been busy enough when she had arrived today.

“Tenzin and the kids are going through some of the other air temples. They want to be careful after what happened in the northern temple.”

That was probably true, and Asami guessed that the rest of the airbenders were either in meditation or off doing their own thing as well. They had all made the island their home base which was good. It was better to be safe than sorry. But she also wondered, if a part of it was giving Korra space so as not to crowd her.

Asami flipped the paper over, not wanting to look at it anymore and finished her drink. “Thank you.” She smiled. “Is it alright if I stay a little longer? I don’t really feel like leaving just yet.” It wasn’t like she had to ask. She’d almost lived here since the incident as best she could. She didn’t think a day had gone by without her visiting.

“Of course. You’re always welcome Asami.” Pema stood up and began to walk away. But she paused to look back. “I think you being visiting really helps her.” She offered. “So you can stay as long as you like. As long as you don’t mind the tornado when the kids get home.”

This got an exhausted laugh from Asami as she returned the smile to Pema. Her words meant a lot, if she was helping Korra… she was more than happy to stay, but it was something more. She wanted too, almost needed to. Asami began scribbling something on a notebook she withdrew, squeezing a little work in while she had the chance. She still had a life, and her position and job to worry about, but this with Korra took her focus almost entirely. Her friend mattered more.

\---

A few hours later, night had fallen, and the lights from the city were dancing across the walls, reflected through the glass of the windows, the rumblings of city life a distant echo. 

Asami hadn’t moved the whole afternoon. She reached the point of inspiration and once that had struck it had taken over. Pema had left her alone, and no one else had returned yet. To overcome the silence, she had busted out a small radio she had brought with her and tuned it to allow some music to drift through the eating hall of the temple. And it seemed in her exhaustion, that had been enough to allow her to drift off.

She didn’t even know what time it was, but looking up to see the darkness of the sky was enough for her to realize it had been hours. She began packing up her things, and was debating on whether to take a boat back to the city then travel all the way home, or just finding her old room she’d been allowed to use after leaving her home and collapsing into bed when she thought she heard a soft rustling noise coming form off in the distance.

Asami turned the dial of the radio, silencing it and listened. For a few seconds, nothing happened. She was about to brush it off and was placing the radio in her bag again when she heard the rustling grow more distressed. A clutter that was growing louder. Asami wondered where it was coming from, when the hall echoed with a horrible reverberating scream that froze Asami’s blood where she stood. She’d heard that scream before. Recognized the voice though distorted with unnatural power. A scream she heard when Korra had been lost in the avatar state, lost with fury and pain. This time… it wasn’t fury. But terror.

Korra was the only thing in her mind then. Asami was on her feet and down the hall to Korra’s room in a second. She slid the door open, and saw Korra writhing, contorting with her upper body in her bed. She screamed as she twisted, and Asami understood she was in the throes of some horrible nightmare her breath coming out in shaky gasps. Her eyes were closed, but the glow of the avatar state was shining though her the slits of her eyelids. 

She let out another cry, and as if on instinct, lunged, slamming her fist with tremendous force into her wall, enough to crack the old stone. And before Asami could react, Korra had done it again, and again, pounding the wall and leaving it bloody as her skin tore, her eyes flashing wide with horror as she screamed once more, the light of them illuminating the dark room. 

Asami lunged forward as Korra moved to slam her fist again again and again in rapid succession, still fighting whatever had been in there in her nightmare, her scream turning into anguish and despair like Asami had never heard. A scream filled with all the frustration anger and hate that had been boiling up in her chest for the last few weeks. Asami was able to place her hand between Korra’s and the wall, catching her hand as it was grounded against the stone, but Asami didn’t notice the pain. Her focus and fear was on Korra.

“Stop it!” she barked in a demanding cadence which was a far cry from her usual soft tone. But there was no response, Korra still looked terrified “Korra!” she cried, trying to break through. Korra’s gaze snapped to her, and Asami could see that she became the focus, the outlet of the nightmare. In that moment she wasn’t Asami, she was Zaheer, the red lotus or the poison in her eyes. Korra swiped at her, a flame emanating from her closed fist. Asami only narrowly avoiding the swing, but the flames from Korra’s hand singed across her shoulder as she winced and gave a little cry in pain. She clutched at it, smelling the burnt fabric, as Korra looked on terrified, screaming once more. On instinct, Asami grabbed Korra’s good hand, to let her know she was safe, that someone was with her. “Korra.”

Korra violently shook, flinching at the contact, but as she did it was like night and day. She closed her eyes, the light of the avatar state leaving them as she was awake, and with Asami once more. Her scream became a heaving wail as all of her emotions continued to pour out.

Asami had been present for a few of the nightmares that shook Korra from her sleep, and that’s what she had assumed had happened, but she had never seen it like this, never seen Korra lash out. 

Korra continued to sob through gritted teeth, tears streaming down her cheeks. She was exuding an aura of anger and sadness with such intensity, that Asami wasn’t sure what to do. She released her tight hold as she cupped Korra’s hand in hers and was able to make out in the dim light the skin of Korra’s knuckles peeling away and little droplets of blood trickling down her wrist.

“Korra?” Asami asked, softly, and warmly as she could muster. “Korra, are you okay?” Asami asked terrified at what was going on. She couldn’t even make out Korra’s eyes which were hidden by her hair now, bangs shrouding her face like a curtain, but she did make out the tiniest of movements of her shaking her head. She was still shaking, too tense in her anguish to even speak. 

Asami quickly stood, grabbing a basin of water from nearby in the room and running back to Korra. She gently lifted her hand once more and placed it in the cool water so she could begin washing the blood off and cleaning the wound. She then dabbed a nearby cloth into the water, and pressed it against her shoulder. It was soothing, and she’d been burned enough before to know it wasn’t serious. It had only grazed her. There wouldn’t even be a scar. 

The muscles in Korra’s arms and neck and torso were still trembling, but her waist and legs still rested gently as if in sleep. As Asami continued to wash away the blood, Korra mumbled something she couldn’t hear. Asami leaned in gently so as to listen better. 

“Did I hurt you?” Korra whispered, with such shame in her voice. Asami watched as Korra slowly looked up at her, meeting her eye, hair clinging to her forehead with the sweat of her nightmare. It was a side of Korra she’d never seen. She looked at Asami with a wounded expression. “Did I?”

“Korra…”

Korra’s lip trembled with horror at what she’d done. “I’m sorry.” She pleaded. “I didn’t… I didn’t know what was happening. I thought…” she continued to cry as Asami stopped her.

“I’m fine.” Asami insisted, with the best smile she could put on. “You didn’t hurt me. It’s not even a scratch.” She insisted. She’d been right, the dream had blurred with the waking world, and Korra instinctually kicked back into a fight or flight drive. “You didn’t.” she said, with a little more force. She wanted Korra to believe her and she seemed to, looking a little less remorseful. 

But now, every emotion was on the table. Nothing was being hidden or bottled down anymore. Korra was raw, and vibrant with emotion. “I’m so sorry.” She whispered. It was time to air her feelings. The nightmare had brought everything to the surface, and it couldn’t be ignored anymore. And she thought of everything no one had the courage to talk about. She stared down at her legs with contempt. “I still can’t even move.” She hissed. Asami saw the anger in her eyes, and all of it was what Korra focused inward. “It’s been five weeks, and I still can’t move.”

Asami shook her head. “It takes time…”

“Don’t! Don’t say I can get better, because if I could I would have by now!” she yelled, voice cracking in the strain. “I’m… “I’m…”

And Asami hated it, but the word broken came to mind. “Korra I can’t say I know what it’s like.” Asami began. “But I know you and I know you’ll get through this. If anyone can it’s you.” She tried to make every word sound sincere, sincere as she felt it in her heart. 

“I can’t sleep.” Korra gasped. “I can’t. Every time I try I see it… I live it. And I feel everything that happened all over again.” The tears were flowing freely down her face. “And I can never move. I’m frozen in that moment. And when I scream myself awake it doesn’t get any better. What if this is just the start? What if I can’t control myself, what if I hurt you? Tenzin or anyone whose close?”

Asami stopped working on Korra’s hand, and made sure Korra was looking her in the eye as she placed her hand on Korra’s undamaged hand. But that wasn’t enough. And she knew it. No words could be enough either. So Asami leaned forward, and wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug, making sure to keep her supported the whole time, and allowed Korra to weep into her shoulder. It was the best she could do. To let her know she was there, to help her no matter what.

It seemed like an eternity passed, as Asami could feel how much Korra was still shaking, and she could feel the rasping breaths as Korra’s chest expanded against her own. This was the most raw Asami had ever seen her friend. Beyond when her bending was taken.

“I c-can’t… I can’t be the avatar anymore.” Korra stuttered out.

And Asami understood why she felt that now. Korra tried to live every day up to the memory of the avatar. She strived to meet that responsibility with every breath. And now the world was falling apart, and she could do nothing but lie in bed and watch it all crumble utterly powerless to stop it. It wasn’t that her bending was out of reach, or her inability to walk that hurt now. It was that she couldn’t help the people that needed her.

Zaheer and the red lotus had tried to kill her, and in that goal they had failed. But at the same time in another way they had broken her. There was one way to hurt Korra, to strike at her heart and deal more damage than anything else could. Take away her ability to help people. To take away what she knew in her heart that she had to do. Who she was.

Asami let out a sigh, and it took time for her to settle on what she was going to say.

“Then don’t.” Korra looked up from her shoulder, perplexed. “You can’t solve all the world’s problems on your own, and you shouldn’t have too. We’ve been behind you through all of this… and I know we all will support you through anything else. Mako, Bolin and me. Jinora, Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, Lin even. When I first met you, I didn’t think of you as the avatar. I thought of you as my friend Korra. You’re more than just a responsibility to the world, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re our friend first. And we’ll help you through this no matter how long it takes, you just have to let us. Forget about the world just for a little bit okay?”

Asami’s voice began to tremble as she said this, and the whole while Korra listened intently. Another few minutes passed as the two remained close enough they could feel the other breathing. As time passed, Korra’s chest steadied, and the tremor through her body was gone. The two separated, with Asami still keeping her hands at Korra’s waist to make sure she was steady, and it was only now she realized that her eyes had begun to go glossy with tears as well. She wiped them away, as Korra watched.

She reached up and took Asami’s hand, eyeing it in the moonlight. “Sorry.” She breathed. And in her tone, she sounded a little more like the old Korra. “About punching you.”

Asami managed to smile at the absurdity of it. “No, you didn’t. I just got in the way.” 

She brushed the hair form Korra’s face and was elated to see that she was looking better. In fact she looked better then she had in weeks, if only just.

“And what about you? Are you okay?” asked Asami.

And for the first time since it had happened, Asami saw a bit of hope behind   
those brilliant blue eyes.

“No. But I want to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my favorite fics of this fandom has been simplykorra's (now weissrose) Recovery series. I loved the character moments and the more in depth look at Korra's journey between books 3 and 4, and with this prompt I wanted to explore that myself a little. I wanted to convey a scene in which Korra lashes out against herself in frustration, because I think that's an important aspect of her character we only see a little with the scene between Katara and Korra. Korra's assertive and headstrong, and being crippled the way she was would be a living hell for her. It's a bit somber compared to my other stuff, but I hope it came across right.


	6. Unexpected Art

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra arrives home after a long time away and finds that Asami has picked up a beautiful little hobby.

Korra opened the door of their home and found herself being lifted off her feet, into the air by the muzzle of Naga. “Hey girl.” She laughed, stroking the spot behind her ear she knew the polar bear dog loved. “I haven’t been gone that long.” She continued as Naga nuzzled against her, allowing her to stand on her feet once more. It was one of the best parts of coming home, it always was. But there was another part she liked even more. “Hey Asami! I’m back.” She called, her voice echoing through the mansion. There was no answer. 

She looked around to see that the lights were on, but no one was home. Korra wandered around a bit, Naga close on her heels to make sure the place was truly empty. It was pretty late, she’d expected Asami to be home by now. But on the other hand she was used to this, Asami was something of a workaholic. Either at Future Industries proper, or the workshop that used to belong to her father out back behind the mansion. Korra looked through the window of the study to see that the lights were indeed on, if dimly in that workshop. It had been two weeks since she’d since her, being away on avatar business and all, so she was more excited than usual to see her. And so she jogged back out the front door, Naga electing to remain inside.

A minute later, Korra was stepping through the door of the workshop. The lights were dim but even so she could see the various projects scattered about Asami was working on. Korra was always impressed to see, cause it always seemed like there was something new and fantastic in this place. A new model of car, alterations to a biplane wing, various models of those chi blocking gloves. It was like a shop of wonders. There was even a machine that looked like it had big shoveling hands that reminded her of a badger mole. She’d love to see that thing in action. 

It was also messy, Korra having to duck and weave her way across the shop floor as there wasn’t much room to maneuver. The light seemed to be coming from a lamp at the back, where Korra knew a desk to be. The lamp casted odd and twisted shadow with the arms and guts of the various machines about her, which obscured her view of the desk.

When she got free of the clutter, she was glad she hadn’t tripped on anything like she usually did, or called out her name. Asami was fast asleep, back falling and rising with the smooth rhythm of sleep. Korra thought it was adorable when Asami worked herself to sleep, and it was a fairly common occurrence. She approached with soft steps, taking a long time to take in the sight of her girlfriend. Surprising no one, Asami looked beautiful as ever when she was asleep. She’d passed out, arms on the desk, and head resting on them. She slept with her mouth closed, but breath coming from her nose was shifting her long hair that had fallen over her face ever so delicately. Her lips were bright red as ever. And a smudge of grease splotched her cheek, causing Korra to smile. 

“Hey there grease monkey.” She whispered, not intending to wake her, as she leaned down, brushed the hair out of her face with a gentle touch, and kissed her on the cheek with the lightness of a leaf kissing the surface of a pond. Asami stirred, but only for an instant, she was lost in her dreams, and Korra didn’t have the heart to wake her from them, no matter how much she wanted her to. 

And so she took the opportunity to look at what was on the desk just out of Asami’s reach. It was a little gadget, and it took Korra a second to figure out what it was. Its shape was familiar, but it was designed out of a bunch of different gears, bolts and plates. But it was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. At first glance, it reminded her of the inner workings of a clock. But whit a shift of the light, she could see the thing was in the shape of a winged lemur. The kind you saw a lot of around the air temples. Korra was afraid to touch it at first cause it looked delicate. But curiosity got the better of her, as she found a switch. She touched it, and the gears began to spin with tiny clinking sounds. The thing sat still for a moment, before its arms spread out wide, the wings under the arm appearing to fold out, looking like they were made of some super thin metal. Korra was enamored at the thing. It was like a windup toy, but much more complicated and cool. 

The lemur turned its head a little, before turning back, and closing its arms again and growing still. Korra was surprised, she didn’t know Asami made stuff like this. She’d always struck her as a very practical person, when working in the shop. A cute little thing like this? She hadn’t expected but she was glad to see it, as she guessed the reason why she’d made it. She wasn’t usually good at that sort of thing, but she knew Asami well enough by now that she connected the dots she thought.

It was then, she noticed the door to the backroom was ajar, and light was creeping through it as well. She’d only been back there a few times, it was where she kept the spare parts. Curiosity once again taking her, she crept up to the door and snuck inside. Lining the walls, were the spare parts she’d expected, but resting in the middle of the floor, and just a little shorter than Korra rested a statue, and Korra recognized what it was immediately. Before her was a incredible cherry blossom tree, just made of metal from the looks of it. She moved to peer in closer at it. The bark of the metal looking like very intricately coiled wire, that did a remarkable job of looking like the texture of a real tree. A hundred little branches extended up, ending in a thousand little petals, all made out of incredibly thin material. The detail was amazing, and she had no idea how long this must have taken her to do. But it was amazing. On tiny strings so thin you could hardly see them, were tied several of those petals, making it look as if they were falling. They shifted, and jingled a little under Korra’s breath as the petals swayed almost making tinkling chime sort of sound that was beautiful to her ears. 

She admired it a bit longer, getting lost in the most minute details, when she saw something else sitting on the workbench to her right. She approached and was again amazed. Asami had become a metal artist. The only other frame of reference she had was Huan, Suyin’s son and his ‘art’ she thought with appropriate quotation marks which made her feel a little bad. But his stuff wasn’t her thing. Whereas Asami’s stuff, was captivating. On the workbench, was a lotus flower, again made of metal. But the detail again was so fine and immaculate, the flow and curve of the petals were perfection. It looked almost like she’d dipped a flower into liquid metal and it had hardened into the shape it is now. 

There was a shuffling, causing Korra to look up, to see Asami in the doorway. “Shoot.” She said. With a sleepy smile as she rubbed at her eyes with her wrist, because her hands were messy. “I wanted this to be a surprise.” She said walking up beside Korra to look at the flower.

“It’s beautiful.” Korra assured, giving her a long overdue hug as the two’s arms wrapped tightly around each other, making up for their lost time of the last weeks. “Missed you so much, I couldn’t wait.” She said. “And I didn’t wanna wake you up. Sleep well?” She asked with a smile, running her thumb along Asami’s cheek where the grease was. She loved it when she was like this, in work mode. Even tired and with oil splotches dotting her shirt, she couldn’t help but look beautiful.

Asami smiled at her. “I need to stop doing that.” She said, rolling her shoulders and looking between the flower and the tree before looking back to Korra. “I missed you too.” She smiled. “Naga and I have been going nuts without you.”

“And is this what happens when you go nuts?” Korra asked with a laugh. “They’re amazing Asami. I’ve never seen anything like them.” she looked back at the cherry blossom tree, running her hand against the strings causing the chime sound to echo through the workshop. “Did you do all this since I’ve been gone?” she asked.

Asami shook her head. “The tree has been a thing for a few months now. The flower yes.” She said, lifting it delicately. “I guess you could say I picked up a little hobby.” She said.

“Hobby? They’re incredible.” She exclaimed. “What started it?” 

Asami twiddled the lotus in-between her fingers. “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I guess, after last year… I just wanted to make some stuff for fun. Stuff that couldn’t be used to punch or wreck something.” She said. That’s what Korra had guessed. She knew Asami had been worrying about her inventions and the inventions of her father and how they could and had been used. Having something twisted into a weapon. This, was just art. It couldn’t hurt anyone, unless you chucked it at someone she supposed. “So I started doing some of this in my spare time and it kinda….” She gestured with her hands. “Ran away from me.” 

“Well, I love them.” Korra offered, looking at Asami sweetly.

Asami flushed a little, realizing she was still holding the lotus flower. She held it forward, smiling that cute smile she did when she was a little embarrassed. “I meant to give this to you when you got back. So here you go.”

Korra beamed at her, flushing a little herself as she took it, holding it with care. It wasn’t as heavy as she thought it’d be. And the gesture was sending butterflies beating furiously against her stomach. This is the first time Asami had given her flowers. Well… it was metal but still. She raised an absentminded hand to twirl her hair, the way she did when she was pressed into shyness. “Thank you so much.” She said with a grin.

Asami nodded with a bright smile. “I hope it’s okay.” She said. “I tried but I don’t think I ever got the stigma just right.” She said. Placing her hands on her hips, and wearing a wry little smile.

The two locked eyes, and Korra knew exactly what she was suggesting. She narrowed her eyes at Asami, her expression saying ‘oh I got you.’ She raised her hand, and with the smallest amount of force she could muster, used her bending to straighten the thing, which she would never have noticed on her own. The metal creaked a little but held firm. She finished and held it up for Asami to inspect. “Like that?” She asked.

Asami crossed her arms and smiled. “Mhm.” She mused, looking at Korra so sweetly. Korra shuffled for a second as she drew the flower back close to her chest, and rubbing the back of her head cutely. 

“Maybe… I could help. You know, if you would want me to.” She said, not wanting to impose on anything, if this was Asami’s private thing. She didn’t want to smother Asami or make her feel pressured. “And we could make stuff together.”

Of course, she needn’t have worried. Asami smiled, stepping forward and taking Korra’s free hand in her own. “I’d love that Korra.” She smiled, eyes closed. It never stopped amazing Korra, how genuine and wonderful Asami’s smiles were. She didn’t know if anything was quite as beautiful. “I’m so glad you said that. It’ll be so fun to work together, and I think we can make some pretty cool stuff.”

I bet we can Korra thought.

Korra leaned forward, and the two shared a kiss, Korra holding onto the lotus all the while, its petals brushing against those chimes once more. When they parted, Asami winked, holding tightly onto Korra’s hand. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

“Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Korra: So can we make a giant metal Naga?!  
> Asami: ....  
> Korra: Grins  
> Asami: How about we try to go small first, and work our way up?
> 
> Plus how long before Korra gets all cheeky and makes a Asami statue to go with the one in Avatar Park?


	7. Gentleness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami is hurt in an accident, and Korra reflects on their time together. And how much Asami's support had meant to her during her darkest moments. She resolves to return the kindness as best she can.

The rush and rev of tires screeching against the road crackled over the radio. Korra was resting in her bed aboard the airship that had taken her to the earth kingdom. Now they were on their way back after a long ordeal, and she had finally found a moment to relax. They’d be back in republic city in a day, and she couldn’t wait.

“We’re entering the final stretch!” The announcer called out, his voice patchy over the poor signal the radio was getting. “Just a few more laps to go ladies and gents!”

So, to bide her time, she’d tuned in to coverage of a race, one which she knew Asami was excited to take part in. She didn’t don her goggles just to show off tech, no she enjoyed the thrill of it and it would always send Korra into a mix of excitement and nail biting worry. The kind you only get when watching someone you care about in a dangerous situation. And boy they had all had enough of that for a lifetime she thought. But that said, she trusted in Asami’s skill behind the wheel. Despite the numerous crashes they’d been a part of together, most of which weren’t her fault. No, Asami won too often to worry. She was scary good with most anything with gears.

“Car number 9 pulling ahead, moving up the pack. Drawing close behind the leader.”

The leader was Asami, car number five. She’d taken it at lap… Korra couldn’t even remember. Halfway through the race, the announcer described her blazing past the others and has since been in a tight competition for first ever since. It was stressful, and Korra was cheering for her in spirit, yelling at the radio more than once. She couldn’t help it. She got into sporting events way too easily, it always felt like life or death. So much for relaxation she thought. Number 9 pulled ahead for a second, then it was back to Asami. Neck and neck.

“Oh! And it looks like number four is making a push! Catching up with the leaders! But Number 5 is still holding on!”

“Come on Asami!” Korra hollered. She knew it would be close. But every part of her expected she’d arrive home to see Asami showing off a new trophy.

“We’re in the home stretch now folks, and it looks like it’s gonna be a battle of these three racers!”

Korra’s blood was pumping, and she’d stopped to hold her breath. That’s when there was a screech of burning rubber.

“Looks like four is having some trouble.” The screech got louder. “He’s lost control! Looks like he took that turn to fast and now…”

The sound of metal crashing and grinding against metal reverberated through the radio speaker causing Korra to freeze. “He’s hit 9!” The crunching sound repeated. “And clipped 5!” It was chaos. The sound of whatever was happening was drowning out the announcer. “She’s…. out of…. Pile…” Korra tried to fiddle with the dial to get a clearer signal, and what she got was the sound of a cacophonous crash. There was the sound of metal on metal, rim wheels grinding against the earth, and the rhythmic sound of a car rolling, impacting the asphalt with tremendous force. 

“e… Pile up.” The announcer declared, his voice ringing with spectacle and horror. “Five’s come to a stop. The crew… rushing… field.”

Korra’s heart stopped, every sound of the airship vanished, only the static of the radio existed. Somewhere along the line she’d clenched her hands into fists, causing her knuckles to go pale. 

“They’re prying… open…. Pulling her out.” The announcer’s voice rang. “She doesn’t appear to be moving.”

All breath was sucked out of Korra. Her voice a tremble. “Asami….”

\---

Korra sat at Asami’s bedside. The sounds and bustle of a hospital surrounded them. It was a day later, though it had felt like an eternity to Korra. She’d been glued to the radio to get any news of what had happened, begging the captain to fly faster. She didn’t get any update on the situation until they’d landed. Bolin had met her on the ground and the two had rushed to the hospital. Apparently, car four blew a tire, and was so closely grouped to the other leaders, that when he spun out, he’d created a domino effect. Nine crashed into Asami, slamming her against the track wall, before her traction was lost, and she began to roll. Hearing it described sent a horrible twisted knot into Korra’s gut, to think of that, to picture Asami’s car flipping end over end in her mind, though she’d imagined nothing else since she’d heard. When the crew rushed to the field, they’d had to pry the door open to get at her, to pull her out. When they did, she was unconscious. They’d rushed her to the hospital at once.

When Korra arrived, the doctor had spoken to her first before allowing her to enter the room. Two Ribs were cracked, and her left arm was broken at the Radius. Nothing that wouldn’t heal he assured.

Korra entered the room, and found that explanation hadn’t prepared her for the sight. Asami was laying in the bed, her arm cast up, horrible scrapes and cuts along her left side, which was terribly bruised, black and purple splotches lining the left side of her chest, waist, thigh and face, almost a third of which was swollen. She looked like she’d been smashed against the road. Korra had never seen her like this, and couldn’t contain her worry. She was at her side in a moment, to find that she was awake.

Upon seeing her, the thinnest smile grew across Asami’s lips. Even this slight movement caused her to wince as her jaw was bruised as well. But she looked at Korra through narrow and sleepy eyes with her characteristic warmth she always exuded. “Did I win?” her voice rasped. 

Korra had laughed despite herself. It had been the last thing she’d expected her to say. “Your sense of humor seems fine.” She smiled as a tear ran down her cheek. Seeing her, beat up like this, had sent a lump in her throat, and that knot had tightened in her gut. Her heart had been pounding in her chest. She’d been terrified that she’d lost her. Her imagination had run away with a thousand terrible possibilities. But here she was. Alive and as bright and dorky as ever.

Korra wanted to kiss her right there. To wrap her arms around her to let her know she was safe and that she was here. But she knew that would be too much. So she found her good arm, and wrapped her fingers with Asami’s, and squeezed, holding her tightly. “I’m here now.” She assured. “So you’re gonna be okay.” 

Now, several hours into the night, Korra was preparing some healing water. Something the republic city doctors couldn’t do that was for sure. Korra had done most of the talking all evening, as Asami couldn’t do much without hurting her rib. Asami had asked how the trip to the earth kingdom was. Korra hated to talk about herself with Asami battered like this in the hospital, but the conversation seemed to do her good, so she’d obliged. She’d told the story, just like she usually would when the two were reunited, and Asami listened with interest the whole way through.

Korra took some of the water, and began to bend it, she’d gotten permission to do this and Asami was interested. She’d never experienced it before. As Korra moved, a pale blue glow, cast its light on the two of them, reflecting in Korra’s eyes. The healing water danced across Asami’s arm, so terribly bruised with its dark shade of purple. Initially, Asami winced, even to move slightly. But with the waters touch, a sigh of relief rushed from her lips as she was released from the ache, the pain. Korra knew the feeling all too well. It didn’t make the pain go away entirely, but it was enough to cope and to calm.

“Wow.” Asami breathed. “That’s a life saver.” She said, closing her eyes and allowing the soothing waters to take away the pain.

“It really is.” Korra said, a somber note to her tone. She was thinking back on when she’d been hurt, when she’d spend hours in a pool, Katara manipulating the waters to heal her. That case was different, as the pain wasn’t the major issue. But still, it was easy to say that she knew what Asami was going though. 

The water continued to glide over Asami’s injuries, as Korra used probably the most gentle touch she ever had. “Thanks.” Asami said. “For coming so quick. I’m sorry I made you worry.” She said.

Korra laughed in disbelief. Asami was always apologizing when she didn’t have to. “There’s nothing to say sorry for. I’m just glad you’re okay. Well…” she hesitated. “I’m glad I could make it back to help. I owe you after all.”

Asami cast her eyes to the side, a little flushed. “I don’t… Korra you don’t owe me anything.” She said.

Korra, raised a delicate hand to her cheek, to draw her gaze into her own. “Of course I do.” She said, remembering those weeks after her fight with Zaheer. She’d never felt more lost in her life. But there Asami was. Offering to help in any way she could. Offering to go to the south with her even. Korra couldn’t let her put her life on hold like that, but the offer. The simple offer had meant something incredible to her. It had kept her going, on her darkest days. She thought back to that time often. It was when her feelings for Asami first began to blossom. There was something Korra appreciated in that, that out of adversity, something good could find room to grow. Her life had changed then, she had changed. And sometimes, she wondered what would have blossomed if Asami hadn’t been there to talk to. “I can never repay you for your support Asami.” She said. She could never repay the kind words, the concern or the love. She smiled. “But, I can try.”

Asami seemed like she wanted to say something, but her eyes closed as a twinge of pain shot through her. But something about her expression, and the softness in her eyes made Korra think she’d gotten through to her. She knew that Asami appreciated her role in Korra’s recovery. But she never thought Asami gave herself enough credit. 

She moved the water over Asami’s chest, where the rib had cracked. Asami sighed once more, relief washing over her. Korra couldn’t help but in that moment to look at her, her bruised face, red flecks where blood peaked through open scratches. And she could hardly bare to stand it. It tore at her to see Asami like this, and it made her consider something she’d thought of before, but this offered a new light. “Is this, what it’s like for you?” She asked.

Asami understood what she meant right away. More than once, more than a dozen times probably, Asami had scene Korra beaten, bloodied and bruised. Seen her crippled even. She’d worn a smile. One that never seemed forced, like she wasn’t sure Korra would get better either like some people did. No her smile had always been real, her support always on hand. Her heart, always bare. So was this hurt something that was under that smile? Did it tug at her the same was it did for Korra now? Knowing Asami, Korra thought there was no doubt. Asami felt deeply for others. Seeing her friends hurt must have been terrible for her.

This wasn’t the first time Korra had seen a shade of this. That was after her father was outed as an equalist. That was the first time she’d had genuine sympathy for Asami. She saw how it tore at her, damaged her world. That was the first time she cared. You had sympathy for everyone, but this was the kind that tore at you, that ate you away inside. It had been the first time she hated to see Asami sad. The second was even worse. The day her father died. When she’d opened up to Korra about how it had affected her. As tears streamed down her face. Korra was glad she could be there to help her through that. Though it had torn Korra apart to see. Especially because with that, Asami blamed herself. She never said as much but it was clear to read. She’d asked herself what she could have done differently, replaying those moments in her head, trying to find a way in which she could have saved him. That guilt was terrible and in Korra’s mind, unfair to put on her shoulders. And she never wanted to see that grief touch her face again. 

Seeing her suffer, was the worst feeling in the world to her now.

Asami smiled, a little sadly at her. “Yes.” Her voice still rasped and was barely above a whisper, but Korra could still tell the love in it. “Every time, it was terrible. When…” she paused, to collect herself. “When you were in the avatar state, after the red lotus took you. Knowing what they’d done I… I was afraid that you were going to die.” Her eyes grew glossy as Korra allowed the water to flow back into the bowl, to hold her hand once more. “It was terrible I… I’d never felt anything like that before. If you had died, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Korra understood that. When the announcer said that they pulled her from the wreckage, and that she wasn’t moving. It had been like the world had stopped. Her heart had ceased to beat. By that same measure, learning she was alive and that she’d be okay. There’d been nothing quite like that either. To hold her hand and feel her holding back. What more proof of love could there be?

Korra brushed the hair away from Asami’s face tenderly. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing we got each other. To be there to pick up the other when they fall.”

The smile that touched Asami’s lips was captivating, her eyes still glossy. Then she chuckled a little to herself, causing her to wince. “At least when it’s you, you’re saving the world. Getting hurt in a race isn’t quite as noble.”

They laughed, and Korra beamed at her. “Hey, a race was the first time I actually liked you.” She said, thinking back to that day. It wasn’t the first day they’d met, but it was the first day Korra actually spoke to her seeing her as a friend. “I guess racing just brings us together.”

Asami narrowed her eyes at Korra. “I liked you right away.” She teased. Korra had already apologized for that but she still felt bad about that.

“I was dumb!” she admitted. Indeed it was hard to think of a time in which Asami didn’t mean a lot to her. That seemed like ages ago. “Besides, you’re too nice, you like everyone.” She laughed. She at least gave people a chance, she always had. It was one of the reasons Korra loved her so much. 

Asami squeezed her hand again. “Some a lot more than others.”

That, melted Korra’s heart, easing the tension in her she’d had since hearing the crash. She looked at Asami, getting lost in those eyes, even with the bruise around them. “I really wanna kiss you right now.” Korra said.

Asami smirked. “I think I can handle that.” She said. “And if not, it’s worth the risk.”

Korra leaned forward, and kissed her gently on the lips. Asami didn’t wince, or flinch. If there was pain, it didn’t matter. They had each other.

When they parted, their hands were still locked together as Korra smiled. “I want you to know that I’m here for you” she echoed the words Asami had said to her so long ago. Whether she owed her or not it didn’t matter. Asami saved her life, even if she didn’t know it. Korra wanted to make sure she would always be there to do the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who have read my stuff for awhile, they'll pick up a trend that I like to write about car accidents. I don't know why I think I might be a monster. But I really love the intimate moments that can come when characters are healing. It strikes something with me. I hope it comes across okay! Thanks for reading!


	8. Embarrassed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra is nervous about delivering a speech, and so Asami tries to assist and give her a little courage, with an unfortunate and hilarious end result.

Beams of morning sunlight were peaking through the tangled vines and branches of the spirit tree growing through city hall, casting misshapen shadow across the square. Korra was tapping her cue cards together in a nervous tick, clearly hesitant about the upcoming press conference. Speeches had never been her favorite part of this job.

Asami was sitting with her, and had been trying to help her with the lines the past few minutes. Korra had grown so much better at speech delivery, especially after allowing the spirit portals to remain open, but there were times where she could still get ahead of herself. The cue cards were her idea to streamline any possible missteps, with Asami at her corner as a kind of avatar pep talker. Asami was more used to making speeches or giving talks given her position. Media circuses were an almost daily part of her life, so who better to assist? What's more, it was an excuse to hang around each other which was of course never a bad thing. It was moral support, and a way to get a little snuggling done on the side.

A crowd of reporters had already formed and there was a police squad overseeing the proceedings, to keep the peace. Asami thought it was a bit much, though in fairness things tended to go wrong around the avatar, Korra being the biggest target in the world. On a brighter note though at least it was a chance to see Mako who had been chatting with them a few minutes before. Bolin had come too but had since began mingling in the crowd. He at least loved these sorts of things, far more than the other three. 

Korra’s hand was wrapped tightly around Asami’s, and she let out an annoyed groan. “You know these were so much easier when I was calling out the equalists. At least then I could put some oomph behind it.”

In this modern world, it was expected of the Avatar to make speeches about the current state of affairs whereas spirits were involved, especially since it was her call to combine the worlds. This event was just to establish a few amendments to laws pertaining to spirit heavy areas. Nothing major for the people but still there was a crowd. It was her job to make the bridge between them that much easier to cross.

“You’ll do great.” Asami assured. “And if you read a nasty article in the paper tomorrow about you, just remember you’re the avatar and they’re not.” every two but journalist was always chomping at the bit to take her down. As Asami knew all too well, everyone had an opinion on everything. For her money, very few actually ever tried to understand Korra or where she was coming from or the gravity of the decisions she was forced to make. "You know this stuff better than anyone." she smiled.

“You make it sound so easy.” Korra replied with a nervous chuckle. Asami knew that there were days when the reporter’s wild fancies and think pieces about her handling of any given situation really got under her skin. She knew that feeling. After the equalist revolt, some not too kind words were written about her in connection with her father. She knew all one could really do was let it brush off your back. There was nothing to be done aside from proving them wrong. Which Korra had been exceedingly good at the past few years.

“This isn’t a war or ten thousand years of darkness.” Asami reminded her. “This should be cake.”

“Cake, yeah. No big deal.” Korra declared confidently. She got to her feet, and made sure her shirt was wrinkle free. “How do I look?”

“Like a dream.” Asami smiled. “Like always.” Korra flushed a little. Compliments were an easy way to get to her Asami had noted. At least when they came from her.

Off to the side of the building, the two were obscured by several of the vines. Not that they were trying to hide their relationship, just that kissing before a press conference in full view wasn't exactly proper etiquette. And so as a last exercise in confidence building, Korra wrapped her arms around Asami, and their lips intertwined in a loving kiss, the kind that still had the power to send Asami’s heart aflutter every time. 

And this was a long one. Asami’s breath was beginning to leave her but she didn’t care. Korra’s lips were so gentle, and her scent too enrapturing. But somewhere a clock chimed announced the new hour, and they were forced to part however begrudgingly. 

“Be right back sweetie.” Korra whispered in the way that gave Asami chills.

She was left in such a daze, lost in Korra's touch and voice. So lost that it wasn’t until Korra was already turning to the podium that she noticed the dark red smear of her lipstick across Korra’s lips.

Asami’s senses snapped back into focus as her eyes went wide with impending doom. She raised a hand and tried to call for her to stop, but somewhere in her throat her voice caught. A quiet, “Korra.” Is all that escaped her lips, raspy and soft before Korra had already stepped out into view of the reporters and was halfway to the podium.

Asami’s palm collided with her forehead as she let out a horrified groan. Oh this is gonna be bad she thought. 

And immediately, the announcer’s expression dropped into confusion, as did several of the closer reporters with the ones in the back squinted to make sure what they were seeing was real. First, Korra wasn't know for wearing lipstick. Second, it wasn't exactly applied evenly, and looked like a clownish mess.

Korra noticed the reaction but apparently resolved to continue with the press conference. She cast a hesitant glance at Asami who made over exaggerated motions of wiping her lips but Korra wasn’t getting the message and simply waved feebly at her. She then started her speech, the whole while receiving incredulous stares from the peanut gallery.

The shock and embarrassing horror of it passed for Asami who was now falling into the stage of appreciating the humor of it all. The dumbfounded crowd, the veins pulsing in Mako’s forehead as he pinched the bridge of his noise trying to cope with yet more of his two best friends shenanigans, and in the center of it all Korra, blissfully unaware.

Asami lost it, cracking up on the sidelines. She had to stifle her laughter with a hand over her mouth to make sure she didn’t disturb anything. Nobody seemed to notice, but she took another step behind the gnarled vines just to make sure.

It was agony, forcing her to clutch at her own stomach because the giggle fits were starting to hurt. There was just something about these mishaps with Korra that could find her sweet spot and hit her in just the right way to cause her to laugh in ecstasy for minutes at a time. Her eyes were watering as Bolin had smoothly slid up to her side admiring the spectacle.

“Is that?” he started.

“Yes.” Asami cackled barely able to contain herself.

“Does she?” he starts again.

“Nope.” She answered almost doubled over with hilarity.

Bolin shook his head and sighed. “Oh she is just gonna die when she finds out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really couldn't come up with anything better for the prompt then a story I wrote for Korrasami Week 2015 (Can you believe it's been two years?) So i updated this one a little. Added a few things here and there. Hope it was fun!!! These dorks am I right?


	9. Double Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami go out for the first time in a while, spending the evening with Bolin and Opal. And as the music starts, Asami suggest the two have their first dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So I've been mostly canon compliant or in universe this month. This one is outside of that. It's in a modern au where Korra was in an accident and is wheelchair bound for a long stretch of time. It's an AU I've used a lot the past few years. Just fyi! So the stories not confusing!

“Are you ready yet?” Asami called through the door. Korra was in the process of doing the finishing touches on her hair, tying a section of it into a small bun and placing a pin through it, allowing her bangs to still hang loosely on either side of her face.

“Just about.” She answered in reply, finding it funny that Asami was waiting on her for once. Though her skill with makeup was impressive and she could do it insanely fast, if you timed it, she would still take the longest to get ready for party nights. At least that was the usual.

Wrapping up, Korra looked at herself in the mirror and was pleased with the results. Nothing too fancy, just a bit of blue shadow to accentuate the color in her eyes. She’d learned a few tricks from Asami over the years, though she’d never go to the same extent.

When she rolls out of her room she proves herself right as she saw Asami sitting on the couch, hair lavishly detailed in swirling patterns, dark eyeliner surrounded by magenta shadow and lips the same color as her dress, rose red that hung to just below the knee. Needless to say the sight took Korra’s breath away. Asami had always had this power over her.

Hearing her, Asami turned and smiled. “Looking good.” She said as she stood up. “We’re definitely going to be the best looking couple.”

“With you that’s kinda cheating.” Korra said as the two began moving for the door, while Asami placed a hand over her heart over exaggerating how grateful she was.

“Stop that or I’ll get an ego.” She said, closing the door behind them, after which they took an elevator down to the garage. When they reach the car, Korra carefully arose out of her chair, not wobbly or shakily but it was easy to see the strength she’d lost the past months. She could still bench two Asami's probably, but there was an effect from inactivity, exercise as she might.

After rigorous physical therapy, she’d made progress no doubt and Asami assured her that she would continue to do so. But for the time being, she’d still need the chair for most things. Once she was in the car, Asami folded up the chair, placing it in the trunk before entering the driver’s seat, and the two were off.

It took about fifteen minutes to get across town to their destination. An old night club, the kind of classy joint you always saw in the movies. The clientele was high class, suit and vest were required. It was a good place to spend an evening, especially a romantic one.

“They should already be inside.” Asami said, hopping from the car once in park to prepare Korra’s chair, and then helped her into it. The two had this down like clockwork by now, working on instinct. Korra was comfortable with letting people help, and Asami went way beyond, supporting her whenever she could, and always with a smile and reassuring word. 

The two entered the club, a pair of men in red suits opening the doors for them, and instantly the mood of the place washed over them like a drug. Pale lights casting dim shadows across the booths and the floors, the chink of glass against bottle. Smoke hovered above one side of the club in a haze that caught the light to a almost cinematic effect. And over it all was a soft melodic jazz that played so smoothly you almost forgot people were on the other end of the sound creating it.

The first time Korra had come here, she felt out of place, being used to a different kind of music scene. Punk and rock, and there no one ever wore a tie. But it didn’t take her long to get used to it, and to enjoy the atmosphere, as long as a certain someone else was by her side at least.

They did some maneuvering around waiters and tables before finding their way to the booth in which currently sat Bolin and Opal who waived them over.

“Hey ladies, looking good.” Bolin winked, causing Opal to roll her eyes.

“Not looking too shabby yourself.” Asami replied. “Nice tie.”

Bolin straightened the bow tie he wore. “Well you know, it’s a classy establishment. Gotta fit in. I wanted a monocle, but couldn’t find one in time.”

“He was one step away from buying a fake curly mustache.” Opal laughed. “I think I over sold him on how fancy he needed to be.”

Korra hopped from her chair and slid into the booth beside Bolin, with ease, still strong in her arms of course. Asami flattened the chair and placed it beside the side of the booth before sliding in herself, her hand immediately finding its way’s to Korra’s under the table. Their fingers interlocked, as the two squeezed wanting that intimate contact with the other.

“Is this your first time here?” Asami asked. Opal shook her head, but Bolin nodded.

“Places like this were a pipe dream when we were kids. I’ve only had caviar once, before tonight. And I got to say I still can’t tell if it’s delicious or terrible. I’ll have to do more testing.” Bolin said, eyeing the menu with ravenous hunger.

“Aren’t you glad we each hooked up girls from the upper crust.” Korra whispered to Bolin.

“It has its advantages.” He shrugged with a smile causing the pair to giggle.

“Oh is that all I am to you?” Asami frowned mockingly. “I thought you loved me for more than my money.”

“Of course I do.” Korra smiled slyly. “You also have great hair.”

Asami chuckled. “Well that’s good enough.”

Korra wasn't gonna let it end that quickly though, a devilish look crossing her eyes. “And that body.” Korra whistled causing Asami to blush a little as she absentmindedly pressed her hair behind her ear.

“Thanks for keeping it classy babe.” Asami shook her head but couldn’t hide her amusement as those dark rosy lips curved into a warm smile that rushed over Korra almost like water.

Over the course of the next hour, the double daters talked and laughed and ate. Evening’s like this were fun, spending times with friends Korra hadn't had the chance to see too often unless they came over. Which to their credit, Bolin and Opal often did. Plus, it was always good to get out of the house as Korra longed to be out and about in the city again. Nights like this were a foundation of normality that were a shot in the arm when she was feeling blue. As the four chatted, joked and laughed, it felt like old times, and was a reminder to Korra that nothing had really changed. 

Just then, the music shifted from it's atmospheric rhythm, it's soft pace, and became lively, something to swing to, leading Opal and Bolin to excuse themselves to the dance floor. Those two loved dancing, and it was really sweet to watch them Korra thought. It was obvious to anyone that they were in love. They'd had some rough patches in their relationship, but they always worked it out in the end. And Korra was rooting for them, thinking they were the cutest, and so very perfect for each other. The way they smiled and laughed as they danced was admirable, the ideal connection anyone should be lucky to have.

Korra scooped another helping of some kind of sauce and a fancy slice of bread and took a bite. “I don’t even want to think about how much this food cost.” She said with her mouth full. “But it’s worth it.”

Asami shook her head. “I know the cook, he’s an old friend so I kind of have a season pass here.”

“Does he make this stuff for delivery?” Korra asked jokingly and as she did she reached for the stem of her glass and lifted it to her lips. And as she did this, Asami couldn’t help but notice the slightest of shakes in Korra's hand. A tremble that had shown itself over the months in her left arm. The same one that had taken the brunt of the impact during her accident.

Korra noticed it too, and set the glass down, shaking her head ever so gently and smiling to herself. Still have a ways to go she thought. Days were conflicting. As despite her earlier thoughts this evening, sometimes she felt like she was pretending, forcing herself to be cheerful and to act as if nothing had changed. But those were just passing thoughts as in truth she wasn’t pretending, and she was probably happier these last few months then she had ever been in her life. But every now and again, something minor, something inconsequential would bring it all back and cast a shadow however small over her mood.

“You okay?” Asami asked placing her hand on Korra’s. Concern obvious in her eyes. She'd developed an impeccable sense of Korra's mood during their months together. Usually she had a legendary poker face, but that all melted whenever the compassion came out.

“Yeah.” Korra answered, gripping Asami’s hand tightly. “I choose to blame the wine.” She smiled brushing it off. But Asami knew better.

Just then, the song ended, and the audience clapped. As they finished, the band began to play something else. A slower tune, and the lights dimmed. And just like that, a look of determination flashed across Asami’s eyes. “C’mon.” she said, sliding herself from the booth and standing by the table looking expectedly at Korra who could only blink in surprise.

“Beg your pardon?” she asked.

“I’m asking you to dance silly.” Asami grinned knowingly.

It was funny, the weight of the question hit Korra oddly in that moment. It was simply weird to consider that though they had been a couple for nearly a year, they’d never danced together. And at this moment it felt like a hole that simply had to be filled, if only because it felt right.

Korra began to gently slide her way out from the booth, and at the edge took Asami’s hand who helped her to stand with the same care she’d shown for so long now. Korra could stand of her own strength, though it took a moment, and not for very long. Asami watched as Korra’s feet cautiously shifted on the ground, testing to see if they could take the weight. Once she was up, the two slowly moved to the dance floor, among a dozen other couples, all wrapped up in each other with not a care in the world.

Korra had a noticeable limp in her left leg, which was what took the most damage during the accident, and due to this was one of the things giving her the most trouble. Korra wasn’t self conscious though, at least not for her own sake. In fact she was mostly worried she’d accidentally step on Asami.

Asami though seemed collected, one hand wrapped with Korra’s, the other she placed gently on Korra’s waist. And slowly, the two began to sway with the music. Their feet did not move, instead just moving with the torso and hips. Not quite in time, and at a more cautious pace then the temper of the music. Testing the waters as it were. And when everything seemed to be working, they pressed their bodies closer together and Asami began to step side to side.

Asami’s grip was strong too. She wasn’t lifting Korra up or anything, but her hands were firm, and Korra knew she wouldn’t be allowed to fall. She began to attempt the footwork as well. All anyone was doing was the average romantic dance, arm in arm, slowly turning and moving their feet only minimally. But the last part was causing Korra some trouble. Her right leg though still weak could match Asami’s movements, but her left lagged behind, unable to raise off the floor even a few centimeters.

Asami noticed, and smiled, stopping her movements. “Here.” She said. “Step on my foot.”

This got her a raised eyebrow from Korra. “You sure?”

“Yeah. No problem, see?” Korra did as she was told, and allowed her foot to rest on top of Asami’s. Then the two began to move again, and this time it was much smoother. Luckily Asami was a touch taller, so the setup didn’t cause any strain, and Korra simply allowed herself to be moved by Asami. The movement was a soothing rythym, and Korra found herself getting lost in it. It, and in Asami's touch as their bodies pressed together, and Korra rested her head on Asami's shoulder. As she did this, she saw Bolin and Opal, a few yards away, in a very similar pose. Bolin caught her eye, and seeing her and Asami on the dance floor, he flashed a genuine and warm smile at her. One she couldn't help but return in earnest. There was something about being happy for someone else, about someone being happy for you, and about being happy for yourself that all wrapped together, and created a light feeling in her stomach. The same kind she always had, when she was close to Asami.

Korra lifted her head to look at Asami. To lose herself in those brilliant green eyes, so filled with compassion and warmth. In that smile that Korra could never get enough of. “This is it.” Korra said, in a soft whisper. “Our first dance.” it felt like a big moment, and in many ways it was. 

Asami laughed, nodding to the side, looking as if she was lost in a memory as well. “Yeah. Good as expected?”

Korra allowed her head to rest on Asami’s shoulder once more, lost in the intimacy, the closeness, the sense of safety it gave. It was pure serenity to feel the embrace of another this way, to feel their hearts beating as one. “Better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Again! So this is another prompt I'm using from the past. This one was for Korrasami week 2016. It was one of my favorites because I'm a sucker for dancing together. And it worked with the double date prompt! So I touched it up here and there, added some bits. And I'm really happy with how it came out. It's probably crass to talk about your own work XD but I really loved writing it. It was almost cathartic for some things in my own life. But anyway, I hope it was a fun read again! Words can't express how much I love these two characters. With all my heart.


	10. Space AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
> 
> It is a time of strife in the galaxy. The Sith empire has launched a brutal campaign against the republic, with only the jedi to stand against them. Once such Jedi, a young Padawan named Korra, is exploring the galaxy in the hopes of finding relics to help in the fight against the evil of the Sith. 
> 
> At her side, flies a pilot named Asami Sato. A long time friend of the Padawan, and maybe something more, the two journey across the stars as partners, as the Jedi code stands between their feelings for each other. After several close calls, the two have found themselves tracked into a debris field deep in the outer rim, with the Sith hot on their tail....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Space AU? Star Wars!!! And fyi we're in old republic times so a long time before the movies.

“Turn!” Korra shouted.

“I see em!” Asami replied back with a grunt as she sent the ship into a spinning pirouette. There was a roar and a ear scraping cacophony as a sith fighter roared above her in the cockpit as her dive forced it to change its course, but it couldn’t turn quite as fast as her ship could… if it held together that was.

There was a kathunk sound as the ship rocked. The telltale sign someone was firing the aft turret. Blinding blue plasma illuminated the dark space around them as the bolts hit their mark, and the sith fighter erupted into a plume of fire and gas. “Got him!” Korra shouted.

“Great!” Asami replied. “Did we lose the others though?” She asked. She ship rocked as she got her answer and Korra watched from her seat in the turret as two more fighters appeared from the debris of the field of floating wreckage they were in. Remnants of a battle raged long ago. 

“Nope! They still wanna crash the party.” Korra shouted. Asami looked at her readouts and saw their blips on her radar. They’d be on them in seconds. 

“Hang on!” she shouted, sending the ship into a nose dive through the wreckage, trying to find better cover. Once more the ship rocked as something metal scraped it’s way along the edge of her ship, the sound made Asami cringe. Gonna take a lot to buff out that scratch she thought. She and Korra had been together for a few weeks now, flying around the galaxy trying to do what they could to help against the sith. As Asami reminded Korra whenever she could, when she’d first approached her to ask if she’d be her pilot, she’d said they would just be “looking for some artifacts.” She should have known Korra would drag her into trouble, she always did.

Streaks of red plasma shot past her canopy as the fighters sped behind them. Narrowly missing, and searing yard long holes in the chunks of debris around them. She turned the controls, ducking and weaving through the fire, as shot after shot flew past. She checked the radar again to see the fighters looked clumsier than her flying was, only barely missing chunks of debris. This gave her an idea as Korra fired back as best she could. Ahead was the floating remains of an old ion engine, three times the size of her own ship. It was laquedasically floating to their left. A grin crossed her lips as she increased her speed. Korra noted what they were flying straight for and gasped. “Uh! Asami! You see that right?”

“Trust me!” Asami shouted back, as the turret was several yards away from the cockpit so they had to shout to communicate. Still she ramped up the ships speed as they shot through space like a plasma bolt. In a few more seconds it would look like they’d collide with the wreckage. She turned the controls, making it look as if they were going to duck right. The fighters mimicked the pattern, but at the last second, Asami turned a hard left to clear the wreckage the other way. She gritted her teeth as the g forces squished her into her chair, and once again there was a horrible scraping as the ship was jostled. It had been such a sharp turned they’d hit a part of the wreckage. But one of the fighters was worse off. Seeing the turn too late, they tried to correct, and smashed against the ion drive instead exploded and added themselves to the wreckage field. Korra whooped and hollered.

“Two down one to go!” she cried. Asami mused. That didn’t sound very jedi like she thought. 

A bolt of fire shot so close to the glass of her cockpit, she could see the smoke trailing off its wake. “Could you try making that none!” Asami pleaded as she was out of tricks and they were in the open now. All she could do was lurch and twist. Adrenaline was pumping through her, though a part of her was acknowledging the danger of the situation, another part had almost never been more exhilarated. If they made it out of this, she was considering becoming a fighter pilot herself.

The ship lurched as Korra returned fire, shot after shot just barely missing the fighter. As a Jedi, her aim and instincts were impeccable, and she probably would have hit her target if the turret of the ship wasn’t older then both of them put together. It was a rickety old thing, and probably a few more shots away from falling apart. Its lurching movements were messing up Korra’s aim. Asami turned the ship to try to get Korra a better angle, narrowly avoiding one shot from the fighter, with another nailing them right in the engine. Asami was almost knocked out of her seat by the force. But she kept her hands on the controls, which now responded sluggishly and with a delay. “No!” she hissed under her breath. “Stay together baby come on!”

The fighter made a turn on the radar, trying to outflank them now they were slower. Again Korra shouted. “Turn right!” Asami obliged, the ship lurched as Korra fired, and once again found her mark, destroying the fighter with a whir of failing engines before it exploded. Korra clapped and cheered as Asami fiddled with the flight sticks, her control growing worse and worse. They were hurtling forward, and she was finding she couldn’t turn anymore. “Uh… Korra!” she called hesitantly, eyes flicking over the dashboard of warning lights blaring their red signals at her. There was a clunking as Korra descended the ladder and ran for the cockpit. 

“Were we hit?” she asked.

“You might wanna strap in.” Asami admitted as they cleared the debris field and began to enter the nearby planet’s atmosphere. Korra nodded seriously at first, but as she strapped herself into the copilots seat, a sardonic grin grew across her face. “Every time I get on a ship with you.” She teased.

“Hey.” Asami snapped with a smile herself. “You’re the one whose a danger magnet. Do you know how many times I’ve been chased by sith hunters before I met you? None!”

The ship began to shake as they began entry to the planet. There was nowhere else to go, and landing on a planet was better than floating uselessly in space. “Hold on.” Asami ordered. Korra braced an arm against the cockpit roof as she held on for dear life as the flames of entry began to burn around the ship. The cockpit grew uncomfortably hot as the shaking increased. Asami forced the controls as best she could, so they wouldn’t nose dive straight down. They skidded through the atmosphere as they began to punch through cloud after cloud. The ground getting ever closer. “It’s gonna be close.” Asami barked, straining over the controls, pulling up with all her might to level off the ship.

They weren’t slowing down. And soon they were fully in the planet’s atmosphere, rapidly losing altitude. The planet below looked green, with tremendous forests as far as the eye could see. Meaning there was nowhere to even try to aim for a safe landing. A few seconds passed and they were beginning to scrape the tops of the mighty trees. “Haar'chak!” Asami shouted in her native tongue as they began to collide with the trees, crashing thought them and snapping the mighty things in two as their ships metal was stronger than the ancient wood. Korra and Asami lurched back and forth in their seats as they hit tree after tree after tree. They were getting lower and lower, and finally the two were jolted in their very bones as they made contact with the ground. But were lurched forward as the ship slid and ground against the earth, sliding against the rock and roots for what felt like a mile before there was a final moment of being pressed forward by the g’s before the ship came to a stop, and the girls fell back into their seats properly.

They sat, gasping for a few minutes in disbelief that they’d survived. Asami’s hair was a tangled mess, falling across half of her face, and Korra was pressing her hand against the dash so hard her knuckles were white. The two slowly turned to look at each other. Asami let out a sigh as Korra chuckled nervously to herself. “An-nother happy landing.”

Asami smiled as there was a sizzle, and the overhead panel collapsed off its wires, to hang down almost hitting her in the face. She looked at Korra with a shrug of her shoulders at the damage. “They say any landing you can walk away from is a good one.”

\---

An hour later, Asami was almost done assessing the damage. And close to her patience’s end with a particular frustrating power coupling. It sparked, and zapped her exposed wrist, to which she cursed “Shabuir!” She lifted her goggles from her face and pressed at the spot she’d been zapped. But it was enough. She’d removed the faulty power coupling, to see it basically shot through. They weren’t going anywhere without that. She sighed, and lifted herself out of the little cubby where she’d been working, replacing the floor panel over it as she did. From there she walked down the open ramp onto the planet’s surface. The wind rustled through the leaves of the impossibly tall trees, but that was the only sound to be heard. It had been like that ever since they got here. No birds, not animals. Nothing but eerie silence. It gave her the creeps. 

She walked out to see a small cluster of rocks, on the smoothest of which, knelt Korra. She’d offered to help, but when it became clear Asami worked faster without her, she had gone off to meditate. Tech and mechanics weren’t really her thing Asami knew. She crept quietly up, and sat beside Korra, eye’s closed and breathing subtle. Asami didn’t want to disturb her, and was willing to wait for her to come out in her own time. She actually liked to watch her mediate, she seemed so peaceful and practically radiated a calming energy. Jedi were pretty incredible like that. Plus, she felt like she was watching over her in this state. The buffer against whatever would disturb her.

A few moments passed as Asami tinkered and eyed the damaged coupling in her hands, but she did so quietly. Which made it a surprised when Korra said. “Shabuir?” 

Asami looked up to see Korra smiling and opening her eyes. Asami shrugged. “It’s from back home. And… I don’t think there’s a comparison in basic.” She said. 

“I bet.” Korra said. Asami was part Mandalorian, and they were legendary for their curses. She always found it so funny when Asami would vent her frustrations with a Mando term.

“How’d the meditating go?” Asami asked.

Korra looked worried. “Not well. I still have troubles sometimes.” She admitted. But Asami’s company sometimes helped. “But this… I don’t know. The planet feels… weird.”

“I’ll say.” Asami said. “The sooner we got off the better.” She looked down at the coupling. “Which could be a problem.”

“How bad is it?”

“The core drive is cracked, but I got that mostly fixed. The engines needed a bit of tuning, and the alternating oscillator is busted. But all that won’t sink us. I was able to patch it up well enough.” She held up the coupling. “But without another one of these? We’re not getting off the ground.”

Korra looked worried but Asami smiled at her, raising a finger. “But! I have a plan.” She stood up. “When I was working, I used the ships scanners to map out anything sentient made around here. And there was a structure on the radar, about two miles that way.” She said, pointing into the forest.

Korra stood as well and looked in that direction. She bit her lip, and Asami knew something was up. “Weird.” She said. When Asami shot her an inquisitive look, she continued. “I thought I sensed something that way. But I wasn’t sure what, and it kept going in and out.”

“What kind of something?” Asami asked, imagining the stories she’d heard about uncharted planets and all the things that went on in the outer rim.

Korra shrugged. “Dunno. Might have been some wildlife or something.” She said. “But, I guess it doesn’t matter. We don’t have much choice.”

“Right.” Asami said. “If I’m right, I bet it’s a downed ship from up there. If so, I bet I could scrounge something up.”

“Alright then. You ready?” Korra asked? Asami nodded but then held up a finger once more. She jogged back up the ships ramp, and came back down, an old blaster strapped to her thigh. “Now I am.” She said, tapping it as she approached Korra.

“Probably smart.” She admitted ss they began to walk.

“I’m not worried.” Asami said with a wink to Korra, taking her hand as she did. “I got a Jedi to protect me.”

It didn’t take them long to traverse to the structure. And still on the way they saw no other signs of life. When they arrived, they found a massive cathedral like building, worn brown over the years with rusted metal walls. A mass of steps led up to the main door which was huge. Asami had never seen anything like it. Korra, seemed distracted, and kept looking as if she had just seen something out of the corner of her eye. 

“Wonder what this place was.” Asami mused, knocking the door, three times her size. “And how to get this open.” She waved her hands around, trying to activate any motion sensors. “It won’t budge.”

“I got this.” Korra said, a little proudly. She raised a tentative hand to the door, and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, the thing began to rumble, centuries of dust being disturbed into the air. Slowly but surely, the door began to rise. Asami felt the air as if it were electrified, as there seemed to be a deep rumble she could feel in her gut. The same thing she always felt when Korra used the force. The door lifted enough for her to roll under, and soon she was followed by Korra, who let the door smack close behind her.

Asami coughed, waving the dust out of her face as she smiled to Korra with admiration. “I’ll never get tired of that.” 

It was dark, almost pitch dark, but even so Asami could tell that had made Korra flush a little. “It’s not as cute as when you’re working your magic on a old rustbucket.” Korra replied. The two liked to see each other in their element.

Asami began fumbling at her wrist, on which she wore a gauntlet, one of the functions of which was a flashlight. But she was beat to the punch when a bright blue glow illuminated the dusty hall, which echoed and reverberated the familiar hum of Korra’s lightsaber. It lit up most of the hall to her surprise. “That’s handy.” She said, before trailing off, as the two girls looked up.

In front of them, was a nearly twenty foot statue, made of ancient bronze. The figure was that of a robed woman, holding up a lightsaber not dissimilar from Korra’s. On the floor, between them and the statue, was the ancient crest of the Jedi Order.

“I think I know what this place was.” Korra said in astonishment. 

“Wait… Jedi?” Asami asked. “I thought… the temples on Tython and Coruscant were the only ones?” She asked.

“The only ones now.” Korra said. “But they used to be all over the galaxy. A long time ago.” She said. Before continuing. “A really long time ago.”

Asami looked around the hall, to see a doorway off to their right. “Not too long ago to have a hangar I hope?” she asked, though in truth she’d never heard of a time before ships really.

“One way to find out.” Korra said, as the two made their way to the door. The place gave Asami the creeps, and more than once, she stopped, swearing she heard something. Korra too seemed to be picking up on things here and there. Something was very off about this place. The sooner they got out the better she thought.

The pair pried open another door, and Asami let out a sigh of relief. There was a hangar, and it was fully stocked. Lining the walls were six different ships, shuttle class, and exactly what she needed. That said, they looked utterly ancient. She approached one and couldn’t tell what model the thing was. It was blocky and chunky, and if she had to hazard a guess, it was older than the republic. “What are the chances anything in here still works?” Korra asked.

Asami hit the button at the rear of the shuttle to lower its ramp. Nothing happened. “Not good.” She replied. She reached at her gauntlet, and drew a connecter to the astromech slot. She began working away, and hoped that her gauntlet had enough juice to boost the old drive of the thing. There was a spark and zap, as gears slowly began to turn, before all at once the shuttle door slammed down onto the ground, kicking up a whirlwind of dust. Asami began to cough, but it didn’t last as the dust was pushed away. She turned to see Korra had pushed it away with the force. “Thanks.” She coughed.

“You’re welcome.” She said. Just as she finished, a soft clang echoed from somewhere in the distance. Both girls turned to look where it had come from, but the sound was gone. “You might wanna hurry.” Korra said, grip tightening on her saber. 

“Right.” Asami agreed, jogging into the shuttle. On the inside it looked just as old, but she figured mechanics hadn’t changed that much since whenever this thing would fly. And it turned out she was right, as she lifted a panel to find a power coupling and its spare still hooked into the machinery. She detached it, and eyed it. It would fit, with some tweaking. The question is, would it work? She placed it into a pouch at her belt, and stepped down the ramp. “Got it, now let’s get out of here.”

Korra held up a hand for her to be quiet. She Looked like she was listening for something. “Do you hear that?” She asked.

Asami listened but heard nothing. “I don’t hear anything.”

“It was there ever since we got here. At first I didn’t know what it was. But there’s something here.” She said, and without another word she began walking to another set of doors. Asami wanted to leave right then. But she couldn’t argue, and she was curious. So she followed after her, and the two made their way through the dusty halls, passing several busts of old jedi masters, until they came upon what looked like a library. With some inspection, it was so old, that there were actual books of paper on the shelves. “It’s coming from in here.” Korra said.

It seemed like she was being drawn to whatever it was. Asami held tight over her holster, ready to go should something prove a danger. The two rounded a corner, and Korra let out a gasp. In an opening in the room, there stood a pedestal to waist height. Sitting on it, was an old cube. “What?” Asami asked not recognizing it. 

Korra approached. “It’s a holocron.” When she saw Asami didn’t know what that meant she continued. “Like, a little computer, to keep jedi knowledge in. This has to be the oldest one I’ve ever seen.”

Asami was getting very worried about now. How had she heard this cube? Was it calling to her? The thought of that sent a chill up her spine. Oh, she thought. Why did I have to fall for a Jedi? “I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Well… hurry up and grab it I wanna get out of here.

Korra reached out her hand, and lifted the holocron of its perch. As she did, there was a clicking sound. But it wasn’t coming from the pedestal. The clicking grew louder, and there was a mechanic grinding Asami couldn’t place. Korra turned back to look at her, and in a flash, Asami saw Korra’s eyes grow serious, as she hurled the saber at her. Asami froze, but no… it wasn’t at her. Something behind her clashed to the ground, as the saber whisked around the room and back into Korra’s hand. Asami whirled around to see two halves of a black metallic droid twitching on the floor. It was in the shape of a disc, two yards wide, with a red glaring eye in the center. It looked like it was carried on six, long jagged, spidery legs. The thing whirred, before the red glow faded, and the thing stopped moving. 

“What was that!” Asami asked, hands trembling.

“I don’t know but it didn’t look friendly.” Korra answered, stepping beside Asami to observe the thing. 

At that moment, a deafening chorus of clicking sounded all through the temple. A red glow began to grow from the other end of the library. The two looked to see what it was and saw at least two dozen of those glowing red eyes staring back at them, as old gears began to whine and grind as spiked legs began clacking against the stone floor. 

“Neither do they!” Asami shouted.

Korra grabbed her by the hand. “Let’s go!” the two wasted no time in sprinting from the room and through the hall. And all around them the clicking continued. Asami looked up to see red lights glaring down at them from the ceiling, as it seemed as if the place was coming alive with these droids, She supposed she didn’t have to wonder why they hadn’t heard or seen any animal life around here. 

One of the things dropped down in front of them, and Korra slashed it to pieces with a flick of her wrist. Behind them, another one lunged through the air, clawlike legs reaching out. Asami drew her blaster, and nailed the thing right through its center blowing a whole clean through it. Three more were there at once to crawl over their comrades remains after the two girls.

They continued to run, back out into the main hall with the entrance door still closed. Trapping the two in the temple. Korra cut another droid in half, and pushed two others away with the force as Asami rushed to the door. Korra wouldn’t be able to lift it, not when they were under attack. Korra turned to face them, as they crawled over the walls, utterly surrounding them. There had to be hundreds. Asami scrambled with her light to see the panel for the inner workings of the door. “I can splice this!” she called. “Just hold them off for a few seconds!” she said as she began to go to work, cutting into the rusted metal.

Korra whirled her lightsaber around in her hand like a baton, flicking the other blade on as she carried a saber staff, a blade coming out of each end of the hilt. “Hurry!” she said through gritted teeth. For a moment, the spider droids waited. Before launching themselves at Korra. Asami only spared a brief glance to the action, and was amazed. Korra danced through them, cutting and carving, blade singing through the air with its hum. Droid after droid fell in pieces at her feet. But there were so many. “Anytime Asami!”

“Almost….” Asami breathed as sparks flew from the carnage in the hall. There was a sizzle as her gauntlet had just enough juice to get something running. The door slid open, but only wide enough to crawl through. “I got it!” she started, before a robotic limb came out of the darkness to slash at her. She dodged it narrowly, falling back as the droid moved to continue the attack. Her blaster had been knocked from her hand in the movement, and so she raised her fist at it, aimed with her gauntlet as a piercing bolt shot from it into the droid, sending a blaze of blue lines of electricity through the thing. It shuttered, the glass around its red eye cracked, and it fell to move no more. And they said stun bolts were useless she thought. 

Asami grabbed her blaster, and looked to see Korra had to back herself against the door at her side. There were too many, they were about to be overrun. In that moment, Korra whirled, slamming her fist into the ground. There was the sensation in her stomach again of the deep rumble, and a dull thrum, as a shockwave blasted all around them, knocking the droids away. The hall shuttered the statue of the jedi master cracked as bits of rock from the ceiling began to fall. 

Korra went down to one knee, looking exhausted, as the droids slowly began to regain their footing, picking themselves up from where they’d been thrown. Asami crawled forward, grabbing her by the shoulder. “Come on! We can make it!”

Korra shook away the exhaustion, the she nodded. The two rolled under the gap in the door and began to sprint back for the ship. When they reached the tree line, the clink clatter of metal on stone caused Asami to look behind to see a horde of the things pouring from under the door and crawling all over the temple after them. “Good thing we parked close!” Korra yelled as they darted through the trees back to the ship. In the rush of adrenaline, the run seemed to last ten miles instead of two, but soon they saw the crashed remains of the ship. “How fast can you get us going?” Korra called. 

“Fast enough.” She said, as the two scampered up the ramp. Korra remained at the top of the ramp ready to cut down anything that tried to follow them. In the open the girls had been faster, so they had a few moments before everything went to hell. Asami pulled the coupling from her belt and a plasma cutter from a open toolbox as she pulled the floor panel aside and leapt down into the cubby surrounded by wires and machinery. She began to set about her work, as fast as she could. She heard the swish of Korra’s saber just out of sight as her fingers danced over the circuit boards and oscillators. “C’mon.” She growled at the thing, as she placed the coupling into position only to find nothing happened. “Oh come on you old skanah!!!” She cried, kicking the frame of circuits with her boot. Suddenly, the coupling began to glow, as the power to the ship came online. “Yes!”

She pulled herself out of the cubby once more and bolted for the cockpit. She’d barely set down before she clicked on the engines and felt her baby purr under her touch. She grabbed the controls and set about the process of lift off. Still she heard the sound of saber slashes, but as the ship lifted off the ground, the noise of battle died down. Asami got an alarm on the readouts, and saw the ramp was closing. A few seconds later, Korra was in her copilot seat. “I love you so much right now.” She said breathlessly.

Asami laughed, but it was cut short, when the clicking came from ahead of them. “Oh what now?” she asked, as one of the spider droids crept onto the glass of the cockpit, clinging to the hull of the ship even as they cleared the trees and made for outer orbit. Korra stretched out her hand, trying to push it off, but the thing jammed its pointed legs into the hull and wouldn’t budge. “What do we do?” She asked with wide eyes.

Asami began making sure everything was ready and primed. “We’ll jump to hyperspace. That’ll shake him off.” She declared. 

“Where are we gonna go?” Korra asked, knowing hyperspace calculations took time. The spider droid began to bash itself against the glass causing a crack to appear.

“Anywhere! Is better than here.” She cried as the pressed the lever between the chairs forward before they’d even gotten out of atmosphere. The clouds seemed to distort, and elongate around them, as the spider droid held tight at first, but was ripped from its perch and whisked out of sight as their ship jumped into hyperspace.

The two sat there for a moment, exhausted from the insanity they’d gone through today. Both pushed to their limits. The blue whirlwind of hyperspace surrounded them. They looked at each other, smiled and then collapsed into each other’s arms, laughing and crying for joy all at once. 

“You were amazing back there.” Asami cried.

“Me? No you got us out of there.” They talked and babbled over each other as they clung tightly, squeezing with all their might. They were ecstatic, thrilled to be alive. Happy the other was safe. They kept going, talking and praising, allowing the sense of safety to wash over them. That’s when it happened. Maybe it was the safety they felt in each other’s arms, maybe it was just the release of nerves. But the two peered into each other’s eyes, and for the first time… they kissed.

They were lost in the moment, nothing and no one else seemed to matter or even exist. Right now they were each other’s world. The kiss lasted as long as it could, both losing themselves in the touch, the softness of lips. When they pulled away. Asami looked shocked and guilty. “I’m sorry!” I… it just happened. I didn’t mean…” her mind was racing. She knew what the Jedi code was, and how they’d just broken it. She felt terrible for putting Korra in that position. They’d considered themselves together, so in a way it felt silly to worry now. But a kiss? That was a line she was afraid Korra couldn’t come back from.

She tried to apologize, but Korra stopped her. “No… no Asami you didn’t do anything wrong.” She insisted. “That was…” she flushed. “The first time I’ve ever kissed anyone.”

The two sat apart for a minute, the silence hanging between them. Asami didn’t know what to say. And so it was Korra who broke it, taking a hold of her hand.

“Thanks.” She said. “It… was a nice first.” She smiled before sighing. “I think… I don’t want it to be my last.”

The smile she offered Asami was warm, and filled with hope. The guilt faded from Asami, as this was Korra’s choice, and she’d make it as she would. So she returned the tight hold of her hand and returned the smile to Korra. “Thanks, for saving me back there.”

“We saved each other.” Korra pointed out.

That felt right… and the thought of it made Asami laughed, pressing her goggles up onto her forehead. “Why do I get the feeling that’s gonna happen a lot?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Korra would have a blue bladed saber staff and no one can tell me different!
> 
> Also this prompt shows my deep nerdom. I really liked the idea of Asami as part mandalorian, and so I wanted to play with my fav mandalorian curses. I'm super curious if any reader is as big of a star wars nerd as I am and know some of them! If not, they're mostly what they seem like XD


End file.
